The Lies of Deceit
by Witchprincess18
Summary: An alternative ending to Merlin S5! Merlin and Morgana are in love although they don't realise it. Camlann is drawing closer but there is still time for the warlock to change the stubborn witch's heart? How Camlann should have ended Mergana style!
1. Kisser or Wildren?

**This fanfic is set three and a half years after series four when Arthur knows that Merlin and Mordred (who is now a knight of Camelot) has magic. Although the magic ban still exists, Arthur has let them stay in Camelot because he trusts them.**

**Little does anyone know but Mordred is plotting with Alvarr and Morgana to overthrow Arthur. Morgana knows that Merlin is Emrys and is determined to kill him. She also knows that Mordred is Arthur's bane although she can't tell Mordred that or the prophecy will not come true. To find out this, she exchanged her healing bracelet for this information and now her nightmares are getting increasing worse. She dreams almost constantly of Emrys.**

**Although this is sequel to Confronting Destiny and Doom, it can be read by itself as everything is explained during this story. Rated T due to blood, violence and (Perhaps?) torture.**

**This chapter may be slightly slow as a lot is explained but I promise that the next chapter will be complete Mergana.**

_Morgana was fleeing around the corridors of Camelot, looking for someone. This someone was her heart's desire and the only person she felt safe with. As Morgana flounced through the corridor, she thought about him and how they could not even be friends. Her long curls bounced around behind her and the plain dress she was wearing, brushed against the stone floor. It was strange to be marching through these corridors again._

_Morgana was feeling somewhat elated, despite the fact that she couldn't be friends with her heart's desire. It was the realisation which caused her joy. Before now, Morgana had been extremely naïve and oblivious to the truth, but now she understood it. This made Morgana happier than she had felt in eight whole years._

_Turning the corner, Morgana crashed into the lanky person she had been looking for. Since he was stronger, it was Morgana who toppled onto the ground but she didn't care. Instead the witch eagerly clambered to her feet not able to conceal the information she had been bursting to tell him._

_"You are my destiny and you are my doom," Morgana whispered to the young man's delight. Morgana's contagious elation made the young man smile. He had nearly forgotten what her smile looked like. It had been years since the man had seen it light up the room _

_"You are the hatred to my love," the lanky man replied. Morgana looked into his eyes, seeking reassurance. She was stressed about something. Large dark circles underlined her eyes, making her look gaunt and ill. Morgana's skin was abnormally pale with a tint of greyness in it and she was unhealthy thin and bony. At first Morgana's smile had concealed her state, but now her stress and unhealthy appearance was visible to everyone._

_"I don't understand," Morgana murmured. _

_"I barely understand it either," the man replied. He hated how sunken and defeated Morgana's eyes now looked. Were they back to square one again?_

_Morgana found herself drawing so close to him that she noticed a few small spring freckles on his face. His eyes, which were like the sea upon a stormy day, locked with her own. Although his eyes looked like a raging sea, there was a sort of tranquility and calmness about them. This calmness caused Morgana to stop trembling with worry and put a sad smile upon her face. For a moment the young man thought Morgana was about to break down, but instead she put her right hand round his neck and ruffled his raven coloured hair. In response, he bent towards her and blissfully kissed her. This shocked Morgana but she did not find herself blushing and wrapped her arms around his waist. The man looked just as shocked by his actions as Morgana did. She had looked so pitiful and miserable that it had been a instinctual thing to do. They continued to kiss until- _

_"I should be a prophet. The witch and warlock. I knew it!" _

"Stop it Gwaine," Morgana mumbled."Go away! I hate you and your stupid applesia!" The witch was tossing and turning under a ragged blanket on a hard, stone floor. Bolting up, Morgana ran her fingers through her short dark hair. "WHAT WAS THAT?"she yelled. In all truth, Morgana knew that it had been a vision of the future but she chose to deny it. Why would she be kissing Emrys? It didn't make sense. Emrys was evil and her greatest nemesis. He was her destiny and doom but, yet, she was having visions of kissing him whilst feeling elated when thinking of him being her destiny and doom. It just didn't make sense. Doom generally meant death or else eternal imprisonment. None of those things in Morgana's books sounded appealing.

Yawning, Morgana gazed over to the other side of the room where Alvarr was slumped on the paved slabs. His snoring filled the room and he had not even stirred when Morgana had yelled at the top of her lungs. Although the room was enchanted making it sound tight, Alvarr should have still heard Morgana. It was a relief that Alvarr had not woken up as it saved the complication of telling him the truth or fabricating a story.

Silently, Morgana clambered to her feet. She was trembling from head to toe and drenched in cold sweat. The witch hated sleep. In the past month of being trapped in this room, she had not slept for more than two hours at a time. Firstly, Morgana had problems with getting to sleep. She couldn't get her mind off the memory of being trapped and tortured in the Saxon dungeons. Lying awake for hours, Morgana would often get so frustrated and exhausted that she lost control of her magic making objects smash. Also, her nightmares had been growing increasingly worse due to her trading in her healing bracelet to the dochraid. It had been worth it as the witch now knew that Mordred was the key to Arthur's bane.

For the past month Morgana and Alvarr had been condemned to living in the room behind the bookcase in Camelot's library. Morgana now studied the room for the hundredth time that week. The parchment and book pages which had littered floor were now in neat piles on the bookshelves which were crammed with books. In the corner of the room were statues, chests, jugs and junk. In the centre of the room were the shelves which the artefacts had been on. The artefacts had been replaced with: a few wax candles, a clean jug filled with water; several silver goblets; a fruit bowl containing apples and grapes; an odd assortment of clothing and a couple of cloaks which hung over the shelf. The spider webs in the room had been beaten away and the thick layer of dust cleared away. It was just clean enough to live in for a month though Morgana was unsure of how much longer she would be able to remain in this room. This room's darkness reminded Morgana of the dreaded Saxon dungeons. The Saxon dungeons reminded her of starvation, dehydration and worst of all psychological torture. Everyone who passed her treated her like some sort of animal or savage beast. She hadn't been able to escape due to the shackles she had wore which drained her magic from her. The Saxons had made a fool out of Morgana and had taken her pride. They had chopped of her precious raven coloured locks and scarred her wrists. Although Morgana had tried to use magic to grow back her hair, it didn't work. The dagger, of which the Saxons had used to cut of Morgana's hair, had been cursed. She couldn't grow her hair magically back but had to wait for it naturally to grow back.

As Morgana clambered to her feet and fastened on her cloak, she gazed at the plans upon the wooden shelf. For the past month, Morgana, Alvarr and Mordred had stayed up until the early hours of morning plotting against Arthur. Although Mordred was a 'loyal' knight of Camelot who everyone trusted, he had been deceiving everyone for over half a year. Mordred had even deceived Morgana until he decided to inform her in where his true loyalties lay. Since Emrys was suspicious of those who vanished outside at night, Morgana decided that it would be best for her and Alvarr to stay in Camelot so that Mordred didn't have to sneak out to see them. Staying in Camelot was an extremely risky thing to do, but Morgana was sure that their hiding place was secure unless someone followed Mordred to it.

When Morgana had arrived at the room, it had been covered in a thick layer of dust. It had seemed like no one had entered it in years. Being a adventurous child, Morgana had explored Camelot and learned every secret passage and room. It didn't even take her a month to find this room hidden behind the bookshelf in Camelot's library. In this secret room lay the truth about her nightmares making Morgana swear to never come back to this room again.

Although, for a month, Morgana had kept herself safely tucked away in this room, she now needed to roam into the perilous world. She couldn't keep a dream such as the one she had dreamt secret. No, Morgana needed to inform someone or some sort of creature.

...

"MERLIN!" the king yelled flinging a pair of trousers at the warlock. The servant slowly turned around to face his master. "That is the hundredth time I have called your name. Have you been at the tavern?"

"No," Merlin incredulously replied. The young warlock had been doing chores for Gaius before he had come up here to ask Arthur for the evening off. This was now out of question. Kilgharrah had telepathically told Merlin to come to the usual clearing as soon as possible. Merlin didn't know why the dragon had called him but it must of been of great importance as it was unlike Kilghrrah to call him. Anyway, the chances of Merlin getting the evening off seemed to be zero.

"Good because I have an important job fo-"

"I thought your attitude around me, would change entirely at the information of me being a warlock," Merlin sadly interrupted. Arthur shook his head. It still amazed him that Merlin was a sorcerer. Merlin had no brains and was a clumsy idiot ninety-nine percent of the time. The rest of the time he spoke in riddles which irked Arthur.

"Let's put it this way- if you were on fire and I had a goblet of water, I would drink the water," Arthur gleefully laughed. Merlin narrowed his eyes in concentration and then shook his head.

"That would be an honourable thing to do sire. I mean I would just deprive the fire of air and manage to not get soaked by you," Merlin chuckled. He had out-witted Arthur again.

"Shut up Merlin! I need you go and find Gwen because I have a surprise for her," Arthur announced to Merlin's surprise.

"Ooh... I like surprises. What is it?"

"You are a blabber mouth Merlin and couldn't keep a secret." Merlin opened his mouth to protest but Arthur spoke over him. "Just make sure you do not take any trips to the tavern. I'll be asking Gwaine."

"Like I hid my magic from you for several years," Merlin muttered under his breath.

"I'm sorry Merlin," Arthur teased. "I didn't quite catch that."

"Like Gwaine will be at the tavern drinking several beers, sire."

"MERLIN!" Before Arthur could chuck anything else at him, Merlin scrambled out of the room. He wondered if he would have time to hastily nip out of Camelot to see Kilgharrah without Arthur noticing. In the end the warlock decided that what the dragon had to tell him was more important than what chores Arthur set him. He had to go and see Kilgharrah.

For a summer's evening, the wind was bitterly cold and whipped against Merlin's face. The sun was ludicrously low in the sky for a summer's evening and the smoky clouds billowed in the sky. Camelot was unnervingly quiet and as Merlin trudged through the lower town, he caught sight of nobody. In fact the young warlock caught sight of no living person or creature until he made his way into the forest. A screeching murder of crows swooped out of the trees. Crows were thought to be a harbinger of doom and death.

It felt as if someone was warning him of the danger that was about to come his way. It was too ominous to be real. Merlin could scent the danger coming like a dog and glanced cautiously around him.

"You took your time," drawled your time. Merlin, being apprehensive, leapt out of his skin only to see that it was Kilgharrah who was speaking.

"Kilgharrah," Merlin gasped. The Great Dragon crossly stretched his wings but mainly appeared unruffled by the warlock's late arrival.

"Three hours I have waited. Three hours to tell you some of the most important information that you will ever hear young warlock," Kilgharrah declared much to Merlin's disinterest. It would probably be some information on how to kill Mordred and Morgana.

"You must not kill Morgana." Merlin's heart pounded against his ribcage. Had he heard Kilgharrah right? For once he had used Morgana's proper name instead of 'the witch' and he had also said not to kill her. The dragon sensed Merlin's bewilderment. "You heard me right. The witch must live."

"W-W-Why," Merlin stuttered. The dragon exasperatedly shook his head. It was obvious.

"Because without her Arthur will perish upon the plains of Camlann." Frowning, Merlin felt relief seeping through his body. He wasn't able to kill Morgana anyway. There was some kind of mental blockage that stopped him from killing her. Perhaps it was the knowledge that it was his fault Morgana had been corrupted.

"I don't understand," Merlin slowly said.

"Last time I told you that there were three people who would help save Arthur's life: you, Morrigan and Lefay. The problem was it is not Lefay but Morgana or Morgana le Fay. Le fay is french for fairy if you didn't know." Merlin gazed at the dragon shell shocked.

"Morgana is a stubborn witch and she will not change her ways. Her mind is set on killing Arthur and has been on killing Arthur for over five years. It's basically her life's goal along with conquering Camelot. I can't exactly say: 'Hey Morgana! Arthur's nice so stop trying to kill him and try and save his life.' That would be too simple," Merlin fumed. Kilgharrah impatiently pawed the ground wanting to be on his way. Merlin truly was ignorant and didn't understand a thing.

"I, nor anyone else, cannot help that she is her father's daughter. Although she is a deluded, murderess idiot, you need her to save Arthur," Kilgharrah growled. Clenching his fist, Merlin glared at Kigharrah.

"She is not mindless," Merlin contradicted. "She is misunderstood." Kilgharrah narrowed his eyes not agreeing with the dragonlord.

"Why are you standing up for her Merlin?" the dragon chuckled. "She is your nemesis." Merlin flushed at this making Kilgharrah feel satisfied. "Or is she more than that? Does she always remain in your mind? I know what stops you from killing her- it is love." Merlin glimpsed Kilgharrah's spiteful and beady eyes before staring at the ground.

"You are more foolish than you look old friend. How could I be in love with a stubborn and corrupted murderess. If that is a word." Flame flared out of Kilgharrah's nostrils but was not aimed at Merlin.

"You tell me off for insulting Morgana and then you insult h-"

"But I speak the truth and you do not," the warlock argued. "She is not a mindless idiot but she is a corrupted and stubborn murderess." This did not please Kilgharrah. The dragon spread his scaly wings and soared into the sky without saying another word to Merlin.

Shrugging, Merlin began to drag his feet back to Camelot. As he did, Merlin dwelled on what the dragon had said. For a moment Merlin feared that the dragon might be right about him and Morgana but he shook that feeling off him. It couldn't be right. How could you love someone that wanted you to die inhumanely? It didn't make sense.

Merlin debated it until he arrived at the gates of Camelot and then his mind was back on the problem of finding Gwen and coming up with a suitable excuse. Arthur would assume that he would be in the tavern with Gwaine .

Opening a door, Merlin strode right into someone. In a flash the person, he had walked into, lost their balance. Merlin automatically caught the person in his arms. They were extremely light and weighed next to nothing. As soon as Merlin saw their face he knew it was-

"Morgana," Merlin remarked. Morgana struggled out of Merlin's grasp and fearfully glanced up at him. It was just like her dream. She took a deep breath and could feel Merlin's sapphire eyes boring into her own eyes, which were avoiding his gaze. The witch knew that she would never be able to meet eye to eye with him again. After Morgana had found out the truth about Merlin's magic, she had barely been able to meet eye to eye with him. It had been a chilly spring night in a cave when Morgana had found out that Merlin had magic. Morgana had been sword duelling Gwen and disarmed the queen. As Morgana had been about to plunge her sword into Gwen's heart, Gwrn had been blasted back and knocked unconscious. Out of the corner of her eye, Morgana had seen a flash of gold from Merlin's stormy blue eyes. At first, Morgana couldn't believe it. Then everything began to fit together making Morgana more determined to kill him. Not just to kill him but to torture him and inhumanely annihilate him.

"What are you doing here," Merlin asked trying to keep the conversation as friendly and calm as possible. Morgana bit her lip in concentration. If she told him the truth, would she just say: Hello Merlin. I just had a dream, well more of a nightmare, about you. In this nightmare you were either eating my face like a wildren or trying to kiss me. Even if you were kissing me it would still have been a nightmare. I mean you would be the sloppiest kisser ever... Em... This is definitely not awkward. I'll just assume your a wildren Merlin, and were eating my face.

Morgana felt herself going a deep shade of magenta at this thought and tried to think of something positively horrible. However this failed and she ended up becoming more and more red by the second. Frowning, Merlin suspiciously scrutinised Morgana's facial expression. The warlock had never seen her look embarrassed and flushed (not even before she had been corrupted). It seemed oddly out of place for her to start blushing for no apparent reason.

The long silence became awkward and tense so Merlin decided to break it and said, "How are you? I haven't seen you for a while." It was now Morgana's turn to be bewildered. Merlin had just asked her a question as a friend would. She was his ultimate enemy and Morgana was absolutely sure that enemies didn't ask each other how they were.

"How do you think I am?" Morgana eventually spat. "Considering last time we met you very nearly condemned me to a slow and painful death, I am not too bad." The last time Morgana and Merlin had confronted each other, Merlin had nearly succeeded in killing her but Aithusa had loyally saved her mistress from the warlock's wrath. Morgana had also managed to snatch Excalibur from Merlin in the process of it. Entrusting Excalibur to Aithusa to keep safe, Morgana had made sure Emrys had no clue where the sword was.

"What is wrong Morgana?" Merlin murmured. Morgana glared at Merlin aghast. Enemies definitely didn't ask each other what was wrong. Morgana was now highly suspicious and pondered on the idea of Merlin trying to manipulate her onto his side.

"Why do you care?" Morgana hissed her voice cracking. Merlin sympathetically studied her face. Her vivid myrtle coloured eyes sparkled with tears. "You want me dead." Merlin was completely bemused by Morgana's actions and emotions. Since when had she been a highly emotional person?

"I don't want you dead," Merlin assured taking a step towards her. "I just want you be who you were."

"You cannot change me Emrys," Morgana softly warned. "I will go to my grave knowing that I have tried my best to liberate our people."

"But this is preposterous Morgana. We are fighting for the the same thing, but yet, we are fighting against each other."

"Unlike you I have better things to do than have pointless chatter about things which will never happen," Morgana abruptly announced. "Goodbye Emrys. Next time I meet you, you shall not be so fortunate."

"Yeah, yeah," Merlin muttered watching Morgana flounce off.

As Morgana ventured out of the castle into the forest, she felt free at last. The vile wind lashed against her cheeks making her wrap her cloak tightly around her. The night was thick with darkness and the pool of moonlight cast shadows everywhere. It was dead silent. Raucous screeching emitted from out of the shadows breaking the tranquil silence. The shrieks of the animal ceased after some time causing Morgana to relax and slump on a log. Morgana preferred night to day. At night, she didn't have to hide or be cautiously about anyone sighting her. Everyone in the whole of Albion was hunting her down. During the hours of light, Morgana had to either remain in desolate places or constantly be prepared for persistent attacks. Night was also serene giving Morgana time to think and plan. Only animals and bandits would stir in the depths of a forest at this time of night. Considering Morgana had no fear of bandits or animals, she mindlessly roamed in the forest until she was lost in the very depths it. Then the priestess called for Aithusa.

_Aithusa, I need you. Please Aithusa_, Morgana telepathically called.

Out of the distance in the pool of moonlight soared a white creature. It eerily swooped down like a ghost but with an air of elegance. Landing gently on the pine covered ground, the creature neatly tucked its wings into its sides.

"Aithusa," Morgana gasped. "You are alright."

"Why does it always surprise you? I can look after myself," Aithusa indignantly replied. Nuzzling the palm of Morgana's hand, the young dragon up at Morgana's apprehensive face. "What is wrong?"

"Will my dreams always come true?" Morgana blurted out. She knew the answer to question but still needed to ask it. As soon as Morgana asked the question, she felt a large amount of weight drop off her shoulders.

"I suppose so but you should know better than me," Aithusa yawned, stretching her wings. The young dragon then frowned intently at her mistress. "What did you see?" Morgana took a deep breath and sighed. What was she going to say? She didn't want to tell Aithusa the whole of dream just the general storyline.

"I saw Emrys embracing me. We had made amends and were acting like really good friends. I felt happy when I said that Emrys was my destiny and doom," Morgana explained to Aithusa's disappointment. If Morgana was still dreaming of Emrys, this meant that she wouldn't annihilate him in the foreseeable future. On the other hand this vision could be a good foresight of the future. Perhaps Emrys would change sides or Morgana would enchant him.

"Do not fear your powers but use them for the greater good," Aithusa advised. "You will probably have enchanted Emrys to do your bidding so naturally you shall be good friends." Morgana raised an eyebrow at Aithusa. In her nightmare, her and Merlin seemed to have more on their minds than just being good friends. Aithusa didn't need to know that much detail though. Morgana some how doubted that Aithusa would be right but when she left the forest, a great weight of worry had been lifted off her shoulders.

...

Merlin couldn't find Gwen anywhere in Camelot so he decided to go and tell Arthur about it. The warlock sprinted through the corridors and burst into Arthur's chambers.

"Arthur I can't find Gw-" Merlin cut himself off. Gwen was snuggled up beside Arthur in bed. Arthur bolted up at his manservant's abrupt entrance.

"We have a rule about my chambers at night don't we Merlin. What the hell are you doing?" Arthur yelled. Gwen stretched and sat up looking at Merlin.

Merlin babbled, "Well I was looking for Gwen an-"

"That was two hours ago," Arthur interrupted. "You've been at the tavern, haven't you?" Frowning, Gwen suspiciously looked between Merlin and her husband. She just couldn't imagine Merlin (the world's most powerful sorcerer) lounging in the tavern drinking to his heart's content. That behaviour was only to be expected from someone like Gwaine.

Seeing Gwen's confusion, Arthur decided to enlighten her. "Merlin has a bad habit of drinking at the tavern."

"I do not," Merlin protested. "I was collecting herbs for Gaius." Gwen studied Merlin to see if he was lying. He was like a brother to her now. They had known each other longer than they cared to remember. It didn't help Merlin that his excuse was extremely lame. Arthur may have fallen for it a few time but Gwen saw right through it.

"I hope your business went well Merlin. It is not easy to keep a kingdom on its feet," Gwen laughed. Merlin smiled at this. Gwen was a lot more on top of things than Arthur.

"Thank you, milady," Merlin chuckled. "But coping with Arthur is the worst of it."

"MERLIN!" Arthur yelled. Without a second thought Merlin scuttled from the room.

**Right, so how was it? I would really like to hear what you thought. In a couple of chapters who Morrigan is will be explained if you have not read Confronting Destiny and Doom. If you are having problems understanding the story feel free to PM me. I'm always happy to answer questions. **


	2. Enemies or Lovers?

**Renessaincbooklover108- Thanks. It means I can develop Merlin and Morgana's relationship.**

**Jedimasterawesome- I see what you mean by him 'casually bumping' into her. Your review made me laugh. ;D**

**Junior Woofles- Thanks. It will hopefully be better than CDD. A writer always tries to improve.**

"WE HAVE BEEN MAKING PLANS FOR OVER A MONTH AND HAVEN'T GOT ANYWHERE!" yelled Morgana. She pounded her fist against the table knocking over a jar of ink. The jar smashed and its contents splashed all over the table. Mordred muttered a quick enchantment to repair the broken jar and put the ink back in it.

"Morgana, calm down!" Alvarr and Mordred simultaneously exclaimed in an attempt to try and calm her down. Morgana didn't want to calm down. All she had down in the past month was sit down like a 'good' little girl and make plans to annihilate the king. Morgana's kin were being slaughtered making her more and more frustrated by the minute. She needed to save them. Sitting here and making plans, which were either impossible or rubbish, didn't help her kin survive. Morgana wanted to leave. She needed to leave. Nothing was going to get in her way from leaving so she stood up to make a point.

"What's the point of sitting here planning?" she hissed "We plan and then we come to nothing because we don't even have an army. Perhaps we would be better to plan after we have acquired an army capable of defeating Camelot's army." Mordred uncomfortably shuffled his feet. Morgana was right. What was the point of planning when they didn't even have an army? But his thoughts trailed on getting an army. No army appeared out of thin air.

"But how are we going to get an army?" Mordred inquired. Morgana laughed silkily at his remark making Mordred feel perplexed. What was funny about asking a simple question?

"Leave that to me," Morgana hissed fastening on her her ebony coloured cloak. Alvarr and Mordred watched her stride out the room in great shock. They knew Morgana's temper had been extremely tetchy the whole day, but they still hadn't expected her to simply walk out on them. At least she had used the excuse of miraculously getting an army. How she was going to do it, Alvarr and Mordred did not know. That was if she was going to manage to do it.

"I've got a plan," Mordred suddenly burst out. Alvarr looked at the young knight with a lot of curiosity. "We will make Arthur lose trust in Emrys. You see I overheard a conversation between Emrys and Morgana. Emrys was trying to be nice to her. To accomplish we will need to cast a brief enchantment on Arthur though."

"What's the plan," Alvarr desperately questioned. It sounded like a brilliant one so far although he didn't have a clue what Mordred was going on about.

"If Emrys does not care for Morgana then you and Morgana will be doomed," Mordred announced to Alvarr's horror.

...

An enervated Morgana lay down in the cave which she had stumbled into. She had no energy left inside her. The priestess's lack of sleep had finally caught up with her making her unable to think straight. Morgana struggled to clamber to her feet. It wasn't like Morgana had any other option so she fell asleep on the hard rocks within minutes. For a couple of minutes she was peaceful and vacant until another nightmare began to trouble her. She had dreamt this nightmare many a time before but this time it was longer.

Morgana clutched something which a black inky substance was seething out of. She was standing on a battlefield alone although corpses were scattered around her. Pools of blood drenched what must of been a plain filled with lush grass. It was hardly recognisable. The sky rivalled the redness of the plain as it was a mix of a fiery red and amber colouring. Blazing in the sky, the sun also gave off a glint of red.

In front of Morgana lay Arthur. The king had clearly been stabbed in his chest as it was bursting with blood. She had Excalibur sheathed round her waist and a dagger in her hand. Swiftly, Morgana coated her dagger in the horrible black substance. Then she wrenched her dagger through Arthur's chain mail piercing his wound.

"Hleap on bæc." Morgana was blasted back away from her half-brother. She clenched her hand on Excalibur and looked up at who had attacked her- it was Merlin. She began to tremble in fear of him. He was going to kill her as he pointed a sword right at her heart.

"You promised me Emrys," Morgana cried out. Emrys looked at her with so much hatred that she began to feel nauseous. "I haven't hurt him."

"You call stabbing him was a dagger filled with most likely poisonous liquid, saving him?" Merlin wailed. All his work had been for nothing. Arthur couldn't die though because it wasn't his destiny. Then Merlin realised that destiny wasn't written in the stone.

Morgana could see the betrayal in his eyes. It was too late to explain what she had done. She almost even wanted to die. No one would ever trust her again. It wasn't fair. She had tried to be good but no one trusted her so they wouldn't even believe her if she tried to explain it.

"Morgana," Merlin mumbled trying to rouse the witch. Morgana wouldn't wake but kicked out at Merlin screaming. Her eyes were open but only the whites of them were visible making Merlin frown at this abnormal habit. Morgana was chilled to the bone and violently trembling but she was strangely intensively sweating too. The warlock had never experienced Morgana having a prophetic dream but he was certain that she was having one just now. For a moment he pitied her but just now wasn't the time to feel sorry for her.

"Morgana. Wake up," Merlin whispered. He looked fearfully towards the entrance of the cave and tried shaking Morgana awake. Still the witch did not rouse making Merlin desperate. He gently slapped her. She still did not wake but mumbled some incoherent nonsense. He slapped her again but harder this time. Finally, Morgana's eyes opened with fear. She took one glance out him before beginning scream.

"GET AWAY FROM ME! YOU ARE NO-" Merlin placed a hand over her mouth muffling her screams. Morgana panicked and tried to slap and kick him. It didn't work as her muscles were still exhausted.

"Calm down Morgana," Merlin soothed. "I am here to save you. Arthur and his men will be here any moment so please calm down. He released his hand covering her mouth. At first Morgana just coughed and spluttered but then she frowned. Emrys was going to save her. This was beyond unlikely; this was an impossibility. Why would she even need his help? She had magic. True, Morgana was exhausted and weak but this didn't prevent her from using her magic.

"Why do you want to 'save' me?" Morgana hissed at Merlin. "I am quite capable of looking after myself. Remember Emrys, I have magic." She was making a good point but Merlin couldn't tell her the truth or else they would be marching off to Camelot. To be fair Arthur was playing the coward this time. Merlin didn't understand it. The Arthur he knew would never be this cowardly, yet, if someone had enchanted him, Merlin couldn't figure out what they were trying to achieve.

"One witch against hundreds of men win still not end well, Morgana. Not when they use blackmail to corrupt yo-" Merlin cut himself off and covered his mouth. He should not have said. Luckily, Morgana was either not worried or had not heard what Merlin had said. She seemed to be in some sort of trance. Her eyes didn't focus on anything in particular and she didn't appear to be listening either. "Hurry up." Merlin wanted to shout at Morgana and bring her back into reality. He didn't shout because of his concern of Arthur or his escort hearing their voices. Instead he grabbed Morgana's wrist and pulled her to the entrance of the cave.

"Merlin..." Morgana gasped. She hated something being clamped round her wrists. It reminded her of being shackled, vulnerable and powerless. It also reminded her of torture

"I'm sorry, Morgana," Merlin apologised in a hushed tone. "Just remind me to never save your life again." Morgana let out a fearful laugh but Merlin covered her mouth to conceal it. "Quiet or else Arthur may hear us." Fuming, Morgana forced Merlin's hand off her mouth.

"Why can't I just summon Aithusa," Morgana hissed to Merlin's exasperation.

"Aithusa is just a baby, Morgana. She can barely carry you let alone protect you from the Camelot soldiers. Her scales are not developed making her easily wounded. Only her soft membrane protects her."

Checking the coast, Merlin lead Morgana out of the cave. The witch barely had time to debate the controversial views of trusting Merlin before he pulled her into a run. Her wrist was firmly wrapped around Merlin's hand as Merlin was frightened that she would faint.

Morgana was almost happy to feel the cool night air chilling her. It was better than a cramped stuffy room by miles. She felt properly alive as the owls screeched and predators growled. In the room, everything had seemed ancient, derelict and dead. Morgana associated the forest with youth, liberty, adventure and freshness. The forest was booming with life and had a somewhat tranquil feeling. Even the wind, that Morgana felt rush through her short hair, was peaceful. She was free at last. Or was she? Her destiny and doom was clutching her wrist. Morgana had just assumed that he was helping her but how could he be? Whenever the priestess was with Merlin, she was constantly bound to her doom. In the end, Morgana came to the arguable conclusion that she was imprisoned. While with Merlin she was condemned. For the one that was called Emrys was said to walk in her path. He was said to be her destiny and doom. Her destiny had been written since before the dawn of time and to change it would be is impossible.

Morgana's full fledged running only lasted for a long minute. After that, her legs crumpled beneath her body making Morgana collapse. Merlin's tight grasp on her wrist meant that he was pulled back and fell on the pine needle covered ground beside her. The warlock had an uncanny feeling that they weren't the only ones disturbing the somber silence of the forest. He shot up looking into the distance like a rabbit did when it sensed danger. Straining his ears for a sound, Merlin heard the scuffling of feet and the distant chink of chain mail in the distance. It had to be the Camelot patrol or bandits. The warlock didn't know who he would rather face. Probably bandits as he still couldn't reveal his secret to any of the Camelot soldiers. There was no time to waste. Merlin could hear the Camelot soldiers coming into the distance.

Morgana determinedly tried to get to her feet but collapsed again. The young warlock swiftly scooped her up with strength which came from nowhere. At least Morgana was light after having lost weight. This was partly to do with her imprisonment, depression and sleeping problems. Her sleeping problems had led to Morgana not being keen to consume anything.

Gently, Morgana wrapped her hands round Merlin's neck. She was completely exhausted Her vision, she had dreamt, kept on taunting her. Emrys and herself were getting too close for Morgana's liking and she was determined to put an end to this. Morgana would have to be patient. Emrys was her only hope of getting out of Arthur's kingdom alive however unhappy she was abouur it. It was obvious that merlin was going to try and change her. Morgana was sure that he had a plan to manipulate and divide her loyalties. That wouldn't happen in a thousand years.

Although Morgana was extremely light, Merlin soon felt himself struggling under her weight. He spotted a gap underneath the tree which was suitable for hiding in. Placing Morgana in there, he crawled in next to her not making a sound. The footsteps and mutter of people's voices grew louder. Merlin gave Morgana a reassuring nudge but she just glared at him. She was even better at thanking him for saving her life than Arthur was. Just as he thought of Arthur, he saw him mounted on a horse through the gap of the tree.

"There were defiantly two people silhouetted in the distance," Arthur called. Merlin could feel the nerves inside him wriggling around him. If Arthur found out that he was hiding under here with Morgana then he was doomed. "I am pretty sure there was a man carrying Morgana. Find her! Do not let her kill another citizen of Camelot!" Merlin had to cover Morgana's mouth before she began to shout at Arthur. Fortunately, Morgana realised what a foolish thing it would be to do.

It took few minutes for Arthur and his troops to walk (for Arthur ride) past and become figures in the distance. Finally Merlin helped Morgana out and lifted her over his shoulder. The witch hated being lifted like this. She got dizzy from seeing the ground below her move so much.

Crack!

Merlin spun round to see a Camelot soldier trampling on a stick. At this unpleasant surprise, Merlin dropped Morgana onto the ground. Fuming at Merlin, it took her a few seconds to notice the soldier. Morgana stared at the soldier. The soldier stared at Merlin. Merlin stared at the Morgana. Morgana stared at the soldier.

"SIRE!" the soldier yelled. "I'VE GOT THEM!" Merlin flung Morgana over his soldier and darted into the distance with Morgana nauseously swinging upside down. He didn't look back to see Arthur and his troops charging after them.

"Damn," Merlin cursed. "Damn me, I forgot about the lingering man." He didn't bother to inform Morgana that it had been his idea to have one man trailing behind the rest of the patrol. Considering that half the people hid when the patrol passed them, this had proved to be an effective way of finding them. No one expected one man to find one man tagging on behind the patrol. Merlin had been caught out by his own cleverness and now he was going to pay dearly.

Merlin urged himself to run on faster but he could feel his shoulders weakening. Moving Morgana back into the arms, Merlin looked at the enervated witch who seemed to be blank; clear of emotions. He didn't dare take a look behind him but he was sure that the Camelot patrol were gaining on them. Morgana's eyes were half closed. The warlock glanced at her giving himself the strength and determination to carry on. She seemed to have the ability to sleep through the most stressful and dangerous situations. Yet here in his arms, Morgana felt like she was in no immediate danger. She seemed to be completely relaxed and at ease. He had not seen her so peaceful since she had been had been the girl that he had once loved. The girl who had come running to him for help and was generally concerned about him. A lot had changed since then.

"Morgana," Merlin gasped gently hauling Morgana down. "I am not strong enough. You are going to have to try and run." Morgana put an arm round Merlin's shoulder to help her balance as she ambled through the forest alongside him. Her head soon began to spin and she lost her balance. Fortunately, Merlin managed to catch her before she hit the ground.

"Merlin?" Merlin turned around with Morgana still in his arms to see Arthur bemusedly gaping at him. The king had dismounted his horse but was still holding its reins tensely

"I know how this may look bu-" Merlin babbled.

"What are you doing?" the king incredulously asked. Merlin awkwardly looked from Arthur to Morgana. He wondered where the rest of the patrol was.

"Collecting honey from a rare bee's nest for Gaius," Merlin explained. At least it was a more creative excuse than his usual 'I was collecting herbs for Gaius' excuse.

"Does that really involve flirting with an enemy of Camelot who does happen to be my sister," Arthur wondered

Morgana was beginning to go back into a deep sleep. Either she would be saved by Emrys or in a cell by the time she woke up and there was nothing more to be said about it.

"Flirting? I don't think so. Arthur I am helping you. What would your sister's death solve?" Merlin took an unsteady step backwards almost losing his balance and toppling onto the ground. Shrugging his shoulders, Arthur glanced at the peaceful Morgana in Merlin's arms. He had a reason for what he was doing. His first priority was protect the citizens of Camelot and while Morgana was alive he could not hope to do this properly.

"If you don't come back to Camelot with me than I will kill Alvarr," Arthur threatened. Morgana's fern green eyes shot open at this and she drowsily looked up at him. He was being such a coward. Merlin was sure that Alvarr had come up with a half baked plan and enchanted Arthur. It didn't make any sense to Merlin. Arthur could never act this cowardly but Alvarr enchanting Arthur to do this neither made any sense.

Merlin noticed Morgana's sudden tenseness and decided to do something that he never thought he would have to do.

"Hleap on bæc," Merlin chanted. His eyes flashed gold and suddenly Arthur was blasted back into the darkness. This shocked Morgana making her bemusedly stare at Merlin who gently placed her back on the ground. "Come on, Morgana. Let's escape on Arthur's horse."

"We need to rescue Alvarr," she protested. Merlin didn't respond but lifted her onto the horse. She was too weak to resist. Surely Mordred would protect Alvarr. Hopefully. Perhaps. Her head was beginning to buzz. Thoughts swirled round it all merged together. Merlin. Kill. Eyes like a stormy sea. Queen of Camelot. Unbeatable. Arthur's bane. Somewhat attractive. Her destiny and doom. Mordred.

Morgana felt vulnerable and weak but she firmly told herself that a High Priestess could never be weak. A High Priestess was strong and did not worry about trivial things. In this universe her death would be a trivial thing. To know this hurt Morgana. Over the thousand of years of mankind she would be only a tiny fragment. No one (apart from Mordred and Alvarr) would grieve about her death anyway. People would rejoice and sing songs. Perhaps, in the future, her death day would be celebrated as the witch was loathed by pretty much everyone.

Morgana snuggled into warmth of someone's body. She wondered if it was Aithusa. Everything was becoming hard to remember now. She wrapped her arms round the person's waist like a child would do to their teddy. The witch was only subconsciously doing this though. She felt like a child. Rubbing her head against the person's body she began to dream. Morgana dreamt of this wonderful man. He was a tall, dark stranger but yet she felt like he was familiar; too familiar.

...

Merlin blissfully looked at Morgana while he fiddled with her short strands of hair. Even though her hair short, it was still mad and matted. Her head rested upon his lap. Morgana was beautiful when she was asleep. He preferred her vulnerable side to her malicious and murderess side. If Morgana knew what was happening to her just now, she would have a fit. At this thought, Merlin reluctantly stood up and walked a few paces away from Morgana. There he lay down and turned his body round to face Morgana.

Merlin did not know where they were but was pretty sure that they were safe. They had galloped for half an hour until Merlin had become extremely worried about Morgana falling from the horse and getting injured. He had then stopped the horse and dismounted lifting Morgana down. The warlock was troubled by where to rest for night. Everywhere these days was perilous for Morgana. Merlin frowned hoping that somewhere would come up soon. Somewhere where either no one would recognise Morgana, or somewhere he could hide her. Not a place existed so the warlock decided to take her home. They were going to Ealdor.

...

Drowsily opening her eyes, Morgana realised that she was curled up against someone. They had their arms wrapped around her. Struggling out of their grasp, Morgana wondered who it was. It was Emrys, her destiny and doom. What kind of deceit was this? As she thought, Morgana began to kick him in the face. It felt good because she was ventilating her anger out at Merlin. He was going to be her human punchbag whether he liked it or not.

The blood was gushing out of his nose long before Merlin woke up. It felt like he had literally walked face first into a wall. He couldn't see anything

"You better hope that you have a damn good explanation for this?" Morgana hissed at him. While drowsily yawning, Merlin naïvely peered up at the witch. Her glistening eyes were narrowed and full of fury but Merlin found himself dreamily staring into them. Luckily, Morgana was more concerned about remaining standing than Merlin.

"I-I am saving your life," Merlin stuttered. Morgana glared at the warlock wondering if Emrys knew that he cuddled into her. By the look of things he didn't, but he was a great actor.

"Why?" Merlin felt himself get hot and sweaty at this simple question. Clenching his knuckles, he could see Morgana intensely smirking. Why did she have to smirk? It got annoying after the first time she did it and this now the billionth time of her doing it. True, it was hilarious when Morgana gave an evil smirk in a room full of people and no one noticed. Beside that it was just annoying.

"Morgana.." Merlin stared.

"TELL ME NOW EMRYS!" Morgana screamed. Even though Morgana was weak, she could scream louder than anyone Merlin knew. Her words also sparked with magic making a tree trunk snap. This shocked Merlin. It was rare for accomplished sorcerers or sorceresses to lose control of they powers even if they were angry or frustrated.

"I care about you," Merlin gasped. "The first time I met you you mistook me for Gwen." Morgana's lip curled at her old friend's name. "You never knew it was me and I had to pretend to be Gwen. It was all very awkward. You were once beautiful and compassionate."

"It's not my fault that the Saxon brat chopped off my hair and I can't use magic to regrow it," Morgana protested. "It's not my fault that I have been been imprisoned so much that I am scarred and weak."

"Your actions lead t-"

"I FIGHT FOR OUR KIN, MERLIN! IT IS ALOT MORE THAN YOU CAN SAY!" Merlin almost chuckled at this but fortunately turned it into a cough.

"Alas! I am fighting for the same thing Morgana. Why are we fighting against each other when we're fighting for the thing- freedom, liberty and acceptance. Arthur will one day be a great king and let magic into his kingdom," Merlin pointed out. Morgana frowned. She had never thought about what Merlin's motives were or what drove the young sorcerer to save Arthur's life.

"I hate you," Morgana groaned. She had just been walked into a trap by Emrys. Where were her usual smart comebacks?

"Let me help you onto the horse, my lady," Merlin called, guiding the witch towards the horse. Stumbling a few times, Morgana was grateful for Merlin's assistance.

"It has been a long time since you have called me that," Morgana frostily said. Merlin shrugged while gently lifting the witch onto the horse.

"I am sorry my princess," Merlin apologised.

"Witch," Morgana corrected.

"Witch princess," Merlin laughed. "Y'know like warrior queen." Morgana felt much better than she had done in months. It felt like a massive weight had been lifted off her chest giving her room to breath and calm down.

"Warlock servant," invented Morgana. Merlin laughed at this as he urged the horse on. They needed to arrive at Ealdor in the dead of night so that no one would see Morgana.

Although Morgana didn't know where they were going, she didn't ask. It wasn't like she would be able to escape from Merlin's clutches even if she wanted. Instead Morgana silently leant back against Merlin. She felt incredibly safe on the horse even though her frail body was close to falling from it. Emrys would protect her. Morgana had nothing to worry about. This enabled Morgana to come in and out trances and to rest slightly, until she remembered that Emrys was indeed her doom. It didn't make sense to say her doom would protect her, yet, that was how she felt. Morgana was too exhausted to properly care about this and could feel her eyes drooping and her awareness dropping.

Whist Morgana was falling asleep, Merlin rode found in a circle and got lost. He didn't recognise where he was let alone whose kingdom he was in. By his side Morgana had falling into a deep sleep to Merlin's exasperation. To be honest Merlin wasn't surprised about this as she hadn't slept well last night. Morgana's blood curdling shrieks had pierced the silence as she writhed around. Whether she was awake, asleep or half asleep Merlin could not tell. It had went on for hours upon end and didn't stop until Merlin had went up to Morgana and comforted her with words of reassurance. She had curled up against and they had slept through the stormy night snuggled up against each other. Worst enemies seeking each other's comfort and trust was not seen everyday. Merlin was sure that Morgana wasn't in her rightful mind. Exhaustion and illness was tearing her apart and, for Merlin, the exhaustion and illness was helpful. Although the young sorcerer could hardly bare seeing Morgana like this, it was guiding Morgana to path of redemption. Perhaps it was going to work out in his favour.

It took Merlin a few hours to find somewhere he recognised. Pressing onto Ealdor, Merlin wondered if they'd make it before nightfall. Morgana had been weaving in and out of sleep but still seemed to be stressed about something. Her prophetic dreams (or nightmares) intrigued Merlin and he wondered whether what her dreams of the future foretold. He didn't envy Morgana's seer powers as it had been bad enough when he had seen images of the future in the crystals. How did she manage to face seeing visions of the future every time she shut her eyes? Merlin wasn't sure but he did know that she was made of stronger stuff than she appeared to be made of just now. Morgana had two sides to her: the malicious, cruel witch side and the vulnerable, helpless sorceress side. To witness either the sides caused Merlin pain. When Morgana was malicious and tried to kill him, Merlin felt broken and hurt. When she was vulnerable and feeble, it broke Merlin's heart. To see someone he loved in so much pain and emotion, because of him, caused him to die inside.

Although Morgana was in and out of sleep writhing so much that Merlin feared for her and screaming, Merlin still managed to make it to Ealdor when night had fallen. Leaving the horse tethered to a tree, Merlin lifted Morgana into his arms praying that no one would see them. In his arms, Merlin could hear Morgana's slightly hoarse breaths for once she seemed to be sleeping unusually peacefully. Morgana couldn't have picked a better time to be quiet like a corpse. This meant that Merlin could creep through the forest and listen out for people without any annoyance. It happened that the warlock didn't hear anything more than the shrieks of foxes, the screeching of owls and the howls of wolves.

Merlin soon arrived at the doorstep of his childhood home with the witch cradled in his arms. Not an animal stirred. It was pitch black and Ealdor felt empty but peaceful. All of his surroundings reassured Merlin. They were so familiar, yet, lately had been getting more and more vague in his mind. Merlin had not been to Ealdor in nearly four years. He had, however, seen his mother who had come to Camelot for a couple of weeks although Hunith much preferred her small, snug village to the bustling Camelot.

"Who is it?" snarled someone sneaking up on Merlin and Morgana. Turning around Merlin prayed that this person would not know who his precious bundle was.

**Thanks for reading. I know this chapter basically just consisted of Merlin and Morgana running around the forest but I hope their relationship is getting more complex.**

**Is there anything you would like to see happen? Please tell me if there is.**


	3. The Ridiculous Plan

**Jedimasterawesome- A lot of Mergana (or teasing Mergana) in this chapter. I know you've been waiting a long time for it. **

**Junior Woofles- I like writing cliffhangers but hate reading them. Anyway this chapters ends on a mega cliff hanger.**

"My name is Merlin." Merlin recognised the man as being the village's night watchman. Since Ealdor was no longer as safe a place as it had once been, the villager's had decided to hire to young men to watch out for danger in return for a shelter and food.

"Hunith's son?" the watchman inquired. "But who is this?"

"This is my friend Mae. I barely know her. You see she was a slave and I freed her." Merlin showed him the scars on Morgana's wrists and he winced at the sight of them. "I was out collecting supplies when I spotted Mae but she fainted. She's unwell and Ealdor was nearest safe place which I could take her to. If you don't mind kindly stepping out of my way." The watchman took a step back frowning at the witch.

"There's something oddly familiar about her," the watchman suspiciously stated. Merlin gulped and shrugged his shoulders unable to come up with a suitable story.

"Perhaps she looks like someone you know." The watchman still looked suspicious but strode off not even looking back once. Merlin sighed in relief. Although Morgana had only been seen by a quarter of people in Albion, rumour had it that she had ebony hair, pale green eyes and looked like a witch. This may of not been a lot to go on but yet people still managed to recognise her when they saw her. Cautiously, Merlin opened the door looking around for his mother.

"Mother?"

"Merlin?" Hunith called appearing from around the corner. "You gave me such a fright never d- Who's this?" Hunith frowned at the body in Merlin's arms. She recognised her but it couldn't be Morgana. Morgana was evil and corrupted.

"Morgana," Merlin frostily replied, carrying Morgana to the bedroom. "Arthur's fate is in her hands and so it seems that her fate is in my hands. If she has redemption then Arthur will live. If she dies or remains opposed to him then Arthur will die." Placing Morgana worriedly on the bed, Merlin glanced up at his mother who seemed to be lost thought. Hunith then bent down to examine Morgana who seemed to be to be writhing around slightly.

"She's dehydrated," Hunith announced pinching the skin on Morgana's wrist and checking her pulse. "Starved and exhausted. Her heart rate is alarming fast but it is probably due to her body being dehydrated and weak. Some water, food and rest and she should be fine." Merlin gave a sad smile for a minute but was relieved all the same. It was just getting sleep that was the problem for Morgana. She couldn't prevent her nightmares from occurring and Merlin had no idea where her healing bracelet was but he was certain that Morgana didn't have it.

"The problem is it may be hard for her to sleep because she has visions of the future which come to her in dreams," Merlin explained. "Can I leave her with you so I can gather some herbs to make her better." Hunith nodded, at her son. Smiling, Merlin picked up a woven basket and left his mother alone with Morgana.

Hunith watched her son leave the house as she dampened a fragment of cloth. She gathered a few ragged blanket and, in a motherly way, wrapped Morgana inside them. Tenderly, Hunith wiped the Morgana's forehead with the cloth. A coating of dirt and grime come of Morgana's brow. Hunith sighed at this. This girl looked nothing like Morgana. The Morgana she had known had been clean and healthy young lady. The girl in front of her was grimy, thin and tired. Hunith pitied her as Morgana writhed in her disturbed sleep. Life just wasn't fair.

...

Morgana was slumped on the floor of a cave. Only one person could save her and he loathed her right now. He was sure that she had completely betrayed her. Morgana trembled, there was no point worrying or hiding as her fate was sealed. Her fate had been sealed before the dawn of time. He was her destiny and doom, and there was nothing Morgana could do about it. Or was there. Morgana's face lit up with determination. It all became obvious now.

Blood was gushing out of Morgana's right leg but she clambered up and ignored the pain. In fact she plunged her hand into her wound and shrieked in pain. Her hand was now coated in fresh blood. Leaning against the cave's wall, Morgana brushed her bloody hand against the wall. The on her hand blood stained the wall and formed letters. Morgana dipped her hand back in her wound to finish off the two words. She fell backwards onto her back and could see her blood gleaming on the wall. Her blood tricked down the wall slightly but the two words were still legible and were-

SAVAGE MANOR

"No," Morgana grumbled in pain. "I have to continue."

The witch flung herself up drenched in sweat and heavily panting. Someone leant over her giving Morgana a fright. Instinctively, she blasted that person back. Morgana vaguely recognised the room she was in and stumbled out of the bed she had been in. She felt light headed and dizzy but nonetheless wanted to know who she had blasted back and knocked unconscious. Who had imprisoned her this time and got their comeuppance?

Gingerly, Morgana turned the person over to see that they were a woman. She frowned. The person seemed oddly familiar like she had been in one her prophetic dreams. Then it clicked. This woman was Merlin's mother- Hunith. Morgana panicked. She began to remember all that had happened with Emrys and Arthur being a coward. It seemed all seemed dazed like a dream.

"What have I done," Morgana cried to herself. Now that she had killed Merlin's mother, Merlin would surely give her no forgiveness and not hesitate in slaughtered her. In an attempt to save herself Morgana limped towards the door. She felt so nauseous that Morgana knew she would be sick if she dared opened her mouth. Morgana's head also pounded and made her feel extremely dizzy.

As Morgana hobbled out the door, she very nearly crashed into someone but her legs gave way and the man caught her. She looked up at his face and her worst fears were confirmed- it was Merlin.

Wrestling out of his grasp, Morgana dropped to the ground. Her vision of everything was blurred but she could tell that she was being sick everywhere. Since she hadn't eaten in over a day, she had brought up the acid which had lined her stomach. Her nausea was a vile green seaweed colour. It was everywhere. Luckily Morgana couldn't see it too well as she was hysterically crying. Within a second, Merlin had magically eradicated the nausea anyway.

"Morgana," Merlin tentatively murmured. She didn't look up at Merlin but continued crying. Morgana knew that she shouldn't be hysterical in any way as priestesses didn't get overly emotional. Exhaustion and weakness were slowly killing Morgana and she was mentally perturbed.

"Calm down," Merlin soothed. He then gently lifted Morgana, who was struggling, into the house. He laid her back on the bed before shouting, "Mother?" Then he spotted his mother lying on the floor. He immediately knew what had happened but instead of seeing to mother, he rashly grasped hold of Morgana's neck.

"I didn't mean to," Morgana protested, her face becoming a ghostly pale colour. "I thought she was going to kill me." Merlin eyes were filled with rage at Morgana but they were also filled with tears of sadness. It was hard to be furious at someone who looked so enervated and sad.

"M-My m-mother is the m-most gentle person anyone could ever meet," Merlin trembled. Every syllable of his words consisted of anger; frustration. Morgana was terrified and just let her tears splash down her cheeks. Merlin's face was inches away from hers. She could feel his warm, sweet breath against her frozen cheeks. They stood with their eyes locked. Although neither of them spoke, they both learnt a great deal about each other.

After a minute, Merlin released Morgana from his grasp and went over to examine his mother. Morgana flopped down on the bed like a puppet and guiltily checked his mother's pulse. He murmured an enchantment and lifted Hunith from the room leaving Morgana alone. Morgana didn't collapse on her on the bed and immediately fall asleep as she wanted to. She crept towards the door and watched Merlin tend to his mother through the crack. She didn't know why she cared if Hunith was dead or alive. Obviously, his mother was a good for nothing peasant much like Merlin.

Soon as Hunith regained her consciousness, Morgana had drifted into an uneasily sleep but was still slumped against the door. Merlin embraced his mother in relief and smiled. Hunith looked slightly dazed but nevertheless smiled in return.

"I'm sorry, mother," Merlin apologised. "I should have never brought her here. She is dangerous." He held his mother's hand and rubbed his thumb over her palm.

"Merlin," Hunith sighed. "Forgive the poor girl. She was scared, tired and unwell. When I made you jump when you were a little boy, you did the same although I was never knocked unconscious. Morgana's magic is a lot stronger than your magic was when you were five or younger." Merlin firmly nodded and his mother gave a smile of approval. Her son was growing up to be the person he was destined to be making her feel very proud of him indeed.

"It's just hard," Merlin mumbled. "She as good as killed Lancelot and is determined to hurt or kill my friends." He looked at his mother for reassurance but Hunith was too thinking busy thinking to notice.

"Have you hurt Morgana's friends or allies?" Hunith asked. Merlin frowned this and raised his eyebrows in question. The truth was he had killed Agravaine and as good as killed Morgause. Now it was becoming more and more vivid why Morgana hated him so much.

"I have," Merlin guiltily muttered. Hunith put an arm around him to comfort him. She didn't want to distress her son in any way but just wanted to help him understand.

"From Morgana's point of view, you are an evil sorcerer intent on harming her and her friends," Hunith explained. "Remember we all have light and darkness within us." It was finding Morgana's light which caused Merlin the problem. Her light was completely concealed by her darkness.

"Mother can I ask you something?"

"You can ask me anything." Merlin smiled, his mother had always been understanding and concerned.

"How do you know when your truly in love?" Hunith opened her mouth in shock at her son's sudden question.

"Your in love?" Hunith laughed. Merlin shook his head in disgust as though this idea was absurd. No one in their right mind would think of him as a lover. He had been in love with Freya for a short span but it was growing vaguer in his mind everyday. When Merlin had asked his question, he was thinking about what Kilgharrah had said and what Gaius had said a few months ago.

"It's just a gut instinct. You will know when your in love Merlin and it happens more than once. But when your truly in love, you know that you desire nothing more than your other half's happiness." A tear tricked down his mother's cheek making Merlin regret asking the question. He gave his mother a gentle pat before stretching and going to see Morgana. The witch was half asleep but sat up when she saw Merlin.

"Merlin," Morgana gingerly said.

"I am so sorry," Merlin apologised to Morgana's surprise. No one had generally apologised to her in a very long time and she didn't understand why Emrys would apologise.

"I still loathe you and want to kill you," Morgana snarled. Merlin softly chuckled. It seemed there was no changing Morgana's stubborn and troublesome ways even when she was exhausted.

"Even if you hate me Morgana, I will calm the beast that rages inside of you and I will do it as many times as I need to. I could never let you die; I would die for you," Merlin announced. Morgana felt slightly touched by his words but pushed this feeling away. She couldn't give in to the bane of her life.

"I don't know what your trying to do to me Emrys," Morgana hissed. "But I shall not be corrupted by you. You are evil and insane. You lies do not deceive me. If you have a real desire to save me, then do me a favour and jump off a cliff. Then I shall be saved from you wrath." Merlin rolled his eyes. Morgana seemed more with it than she had been previously. Memories were obviously stirring inside her and starting untameable flame in her heart.

"Just keep telling yourself that I am evil. I am not deceiving anyone. You are deceiving everyone and most importantly, you are deceiving yourself." Merlin then grinned at Morgana. The more he smiled, the more Morgana wanted to hate and kill him. However his smile was so genuine that Morgana couldn't ever hope to hate him. Morgana had fallen for his rogue but goofy grin and she hated herself for it.

"Nooooo!" Morgana yelped clambering to her feet. The adrenaline was pumping through her, urging her to run. She resisted fleeing and used all her energy to kick, punch and hurt Emrys. Merlin didn't try to stop her. He deserved the pain. After two minutes of thrashing out at him, Morgana collapsed on the bed, exhausted.

"I am yours," Merlin sighed to Morgana's confusion. "My heart, soul and very life belong to you." Morgana looked utterly perplexed. He was her worst enemy. How could his heart and soul be hers? It didn't make sense. Nothing made sense. All she had seen all her life was people trying to kill each other. Morgana wanted peace. She was shattered.

"Your not mine," Morgana argued. "I don't want you. I want you dead." Morgana didn't know if she believed her own words any more. She was exhausted and ill. To be honest, Morgana didn't care about what happened to herself anymore. Each day was more of a nightmare than the last.

"I am yours though, Morgana. You cannot push me away. I will do whatever it takes to protect you." Rubbing her ears, Morgana laughed to herself. Her mind was playing absurd tricks with her. There was no way Merlin could have said that.

"Because poisoning me is protecting me," Morgana softly hissed. "If you want to protect me, then go and jump of a cliff. You are my doom and-" Morgana cut herself off here. She had revealed too much and would be forever doomed now. Merlin glanced her with vague interest although he was intrigued by what he had said. None of then spoke another word to each other.

Morgana fell in a deep slumber as soon as her head hit the pillow, but Merlin couldn't sleep. Instead he watched the steady rise and of Morgana's chest and listened her breathing. Her consistent breathing reassured Merlin as he tried to find a comfortable patch on the ground. Now that he had luxury of a bed in Camelot, it was hard for him to get to sleep on the hard ground. He tossed and turned but still found himself wide awake. There was too much for his mind to process. Every time when Merlin felt like he was beginning to understand Morgana, she did something unexpected putting him back to square one.

"It was the same, Merlin; it's always the same. A blood red sky and battlefield and you are about to kill me and he's dying," Morgana subconsciously cried. She was still half-asleep and not with it. In her mind Morgana was in Camelot with those she held dearest. Merlin longed to comfort the hysterical Morgana. He longer to hold her trembling body into his and promise her of his eternal protection. Unfortunately Merlin could not do this. There were numerous trivial reasons for him not being do this such as Morgana's murderess attitude towards him or repercussions of someone seeing him comforting her. Merlin didn't doubt that he could keep this promise. He had already promised himself to keep Morgana safe. No it was the guilt he felt which was the problem. After all, it was all his fault that Morgana was in this position.

Eventually, Merlin's sympathy for Morgana's hysterical distress got the better of him and he crawled into the bed behind. Wrapping his arms around her, Merlin buried his head in her hair. Morgana seemed to be comforted by his presence as Merlin felt her heart and breathing rate go down. Her eyes also began to droop and she fell back into a deep. Merlin closed his eyes in ecstasy as he felt the gentle rise and fall of her chest. Everything felt alright. It felt like Merlin had his Morgana back but inside he knew he didn't.

When Hunith entered the bedroom to see how Morgana was feeling, she found Morgana and her son fast asleep together on the floor. Merlin protectively wrapped around Morgana. Hunith smiled at the sight as she quietly shut the door; it wasn't too hard to know who her son was in love with.

...

For the rest of the night Morgana slept soundly but she found herself wakening rather early. Yawning, she pulled herself up into a sitting position. It was then the witch remembered what it had happened. It was ludicrous; unreal. Merlin couldn't of saved her life. He hated her. He loathed her. He sought her dead. He sought her hurt.

"Merlin," Morgana snarled. There was no response just a somber silence. "Merlin! Emrys! MERLIN! EMRYS!" Morgana heard a shuffling of feet from the room which adjoined the bedroom. She needed to hurt Merlin.

The door squeaked open but to her surprise it wasn't Merlin but Hunith. Her frosty green eyes narrowed at the sight of his mother and her body curled up in fear. Morgana didn't trust anyone and flinched at every loud noise or person that appeared. Torture and imprisoned had made her wary of everything. Even though she had been liberated for a few months, Morgana couldn't deny her fear of other people.

"Are you feeling better?" Hunith asked. Morgana kept her eyes fixed on the older woman and didn't reply. She was silently working out how much of a threat this woman posed to her. In the end, Morgana decided the threat wasn't big but still was stiffened and wary. Hunith noticed Morgana's tense and fearful attitude towards her. The older woman immediately felt sympathetic towards Morgana as no one had ever been ever afraid of the gentle Hunith.

"Merlin should be back soon," Hunith explained. "He went out to collect some firewood." Morgana once again was silent making Hunith feel uncomfortable and intrusive. "I'll leave you to rest. Call me if you want anything to eat." To Morgana's relief, Hunith left the room shutting the door tightly. Morgana had been longing to scream, yell or hurt the older woman- she was Emrys's (her destiny and doom's) mother. Fortunately, Morgana had enough self control to restrain herself from doing anything to hurt the older woman. Emrys would kill her if she purposely hurt his mother. He was too overprotective about people he loved.

Morgana stayed in the bed the whole morning flitting in and out of sleep. She was too weak to bother running. Even though Morgana was enervated, she felt somewhat restless. Perhaps it was because she had been trapped in one room for so long.

At around midday Merlin returned home conveniently forgetting the firewood. Morgana heard his mother giving the most powerful sorcerer ever a row. Since Merlin hadn't collected any firewood, he had to up to no good. This terrified Morgana especially when she heard his footsteps drawing closer to her. Pulling the ragged blanket over herself, Morgana feigned sleep. She heard the door open and Merlin come in. Her body tensed as she heard the door shut.

"I know you are feigning Morgana. Sleep doesn't come to you this easily," Merlin slowly said. Opening her eyes, Morgana stumbled to her feet.

"You are right, Emrys. But I do not give in this easily. I am leaving." For a moment Morgana glimpsed fear flashing across Merlin's face but the fear was gone as soon as it came.

"And you think you'll live to tell the tale," Merlin worriedly said raising an eyebrow. Morgana frowned at a knowing glint in Merlin's eye. There was something peculiar going on.

"I have magic Merlin," Morgana silkily laughed.

"You can't walk anywhere though," Merlin pointed out. Morgana glared at Merlin making him shrug. "Please yourself but you are not leaving without eating an ample amount of food and I literally mean."

"Who are you telling me what to do?" Morgana hissed.

"I am your friend Morgana."

"And friends try to poison each other," Morgana chortled. "I'm warning you to get out of my way." Merlin stood up straightly with his feet routed into the ground. "Hleap on bæc." Morgana couldn't feel the magic instinctively flowing through her body or the usual golden glow in her eyes. It hadn't worked. Merlin should have been blasted against the hard wall.

"I am sorry Morgana," Merlin said. "Your magic is gone, for now."

"I hate you." To show this Morgana punched his stomach. She wasn't strong to hurt him and Merlin smiled at her.

"Do it again," Merlin encouraged. Morgana punched him again and again and again. Each time Merlin just laughed harder until Morgana got bored and kicked him in an incredibly uncomfortable place.

"OW!" Merlin complained. Morgana could feel herself growing more powerful and sweaty by the second. Even without her magic or any sort of weapon, she felt more powerful than the mindless idiot (which was meant to be a powerful sorcerer) standing in front of her.

"I am fire Merlin. Do not try and control me," Morgana roared. "Even without magic I have a stronger will than you will ever hope to have." Merlin looked at the girl he had held in his arms and comforted last night. Without her magic, Morgana posed no threat to him but still looked malicious and somewhat magnificent.

"Morgana, Morgana, Morgana," Merlin gasped. "I have never doubted how strong your will is but I am going to help you." The rage was building up inside Morgana making her feel like an untameable creature. She honestly felt ready to throttle Merlin right now and so she pinned him against a wall.

"I-I WILL G-GET Y-Y-YOU EMRYS!" Morgana trembled in fury. Merlin grabbed Morgana's wrist and tried to pull her out of the bedroom. She smacked his face.

"I am sorry Morgana," Merlin said massaging his cheek. "But it is time to find out exactly how much Arthur loves you." Morgana ceased trying to maim Merlin and froze on the spot. Arthur hated her, didn't he?

**Teasing Mergana, was I? Soon readers (hopefully!). Anyway for the next chapter Merlin may be stealing one of his mother's dresses to dress up. It's the appearance of the funniest character in series 5.**


	4. Dolma

**Insanetrouble- I'm sorry but I like cliffhangers. Basically everyone of my chapters end on one.**

**Junior Woofles- Yep you are right as usual, it wasn't that bad. Applesia makes its return in this chapter.**

**Guest- Thanks and your right it is her.**

**Anyway I might not be updating as much as I am going through a reading phase. I'll still try and update every week though. Enjoy! (hopefully)**

Morgana was pulling her feet along the forest floor barely able to stay on her feet. Everything in the past hour had went by in a flash. One minute Merlin had said something about Arthur loving her and then he had literally hauled Morgana out of his childhood home. Foolishly, Merlin had forgotten about the village being busy in daylight hours. If anyone spotted who Merlin was assisting, he and his mother were forever doomed. It happened that Merlin had hauled Morgana in front of a dozen people's faces. Morgana had automatically bent her head towards the ground while Merlin protectively wrapped an arm around her. Merlin had told everyone that Morgana was suffering from the contagious disease- applesia. Applesia had been a disease that Gwaine had invented whilst he was locked up in the Saxon prison with Morgana. Gwaine had not eaten an apple in a long while so he had told the guards that he was suffering from not consuming enough apples hence calling the disease applesia (Gwaine was very unimaginative at times.)

Every Ealdor villager had turned their backs and covered their mouths when Merlin announced that Morgana had the deadly disease. Thus they had been able to get out of Ealdor and were now walking through a desolate forest (again!).

"Come on Morgana," Merlin impatiently sighed. Morgana was trailing several paces behind him not able to keep with him. Morgana scowled when Merlin said this as it was obvious that she was not able to keep up. Apparently she was suffering from starvation and exhaustion.

"I am suffering from applesia," Morgana hissed. "You would do well to remember that Em-"

"APPLESIA!" Morgana knew that annoying voice and it didn't happen to be Merlin's or Arthur's or Gwen's. It was Gwaine's annoying voice. It annoyingly took both Merlin and Morgana to notice that Gwaine was nestled in the branches of a tree.

"Gwaine," Merlin screamed with joy. Gwaine leapt down to see his friend. "What were you doing up there?"

"Trying to get some honey," Gwaine laughed but his face then turned serious. "Why are you flirting with Morgana when you should be slaving around for Arthur?"

"WE ARE NOT FLIRTING!" Morgana shrieked making both Gwaine and Merlin jump. They had almost forgot that Morgana was trembling beside them.

"Someone's feisty," Gwaine laughed throwing Morgana an exasperated grin. "Someone is feisty ninety-nine percent of the time."

Morgana bit her lip and tried not to throw an insult back at Gwaine. He was insane, deluded and could be very, very, very, very, very, annoying. At least the annoying knight treated her like a human which was a lot more than everyone else treated her. Not many people seemed to understand that she was fighting for a good cause and fighting for her very survival. Most people thought hat Morgana was a insane and corrupted murderess with no self control and feelings. Life was hard for Morgana but she just coped with it.

"What's the plan?" Gwaine annoyingly asked breaking the somber but serene silence.

Merlin didn't have much of a plan. He had just an idea and then would make it up as he went along. The idea was simple- Merlin needed to show Morgana how much Arthur actually cared for her whilst having the time of his life making a fool out of Arthur.

"You will have to wait and see," Merlin murmured striding into the distance. Morgana inquisitively raised an eyebrow towards Gwaine but Gwaine merely shrugged. He was as bemused as Morgana was.

...

"What the hell?" Morgana and Gwaine chorused when Merlin returned. They hardly recognised him. Perhaps his eyes were a little recognisable but Merlin's disguise did conceal his identity notably well. His long grey hair was wispy and frazzled. He wore his mother's periwinkle dress and a sapphire shawl which covered his ears. Morgana was teetering between being mortified or finding Merlin's new appearance hilarious. At first Gwaine had been horrified but now his heavy chortles reverberated found the forest.

"Do I honestly look that bad," Merlin asked in a sickly feminine voice. Gwaine chuckled in response and Morgana crossed her arms clearly not finding it amusing anymore. She was more concerned about her survival and liberation than Merlin's hilarious attempt to become a woman.

"Bad?" Gwaine laughed finding it hard to breathe. "Try and..." Gwaine took a large gulp of fresh air. "Try and act more like a girl. Look how Morgana's arms are folded. Girls also like to put their hands on their hips and walk with less of a swagger. They also like to twirl their hair and cross their legs."

"How would you know so much?" Merlin gaped. Shrugging his shoulders, Gwaine glanced at a perplexed and furious Morgana. She seemed to finding this whole situation exasperating and Gwaine didn't find himself wondering why.

"I have dressed up as a woman, believe or not," Gwaine chortled. "It worked quite well until a man showed a certain degree of interest in me. I ran cursing applesia upon the man. I didn't stop running until I dropped to the ground from exhaustion. Since then I've never dressed up as a woman." Merlin giggled along with his troublesome friend. Gwaine wouldn't be Gwaine without having an extraordinary knack for getting himself into some sort of trouble.

"I have to just hope Arthur doesn't show a certain interest in me," Merlin muttered making Morgana glare at him. If looks could kill Merlin would have died over a million times. Luckily, (for Merlin) they didn't and Morgana would have to cope with temporally becoming a slave if she wanted her magic back.

"Would be funny if he did," Gwaine blurted out. "Merlin I love you, Merlin I do, I would go to ends of earth for you..." Gwaine and Merlin erupted into fits of laughter at this. Morgana watched their every move eyeing up her opportune moment to escape their wraths. Taking a couple of quiet steps backwards, Morgana sighed in relief at Merlin and Gwaine's ignorance to her actions. As soon as Morgana saw the opportune moment, she broke into a full fledged run. Unfortunately for Morgana, Merlin, however, had been more aware of her actions than she had previously thought. She felt herself being swept backwards and gently landing on the forest floor.

"Time to get your shackles on witchie," Gwaine announced. Morgana's face paled and her emerald eyes brimmed with crystal teardrops. Chains, shackles and manacles were a complete nuisance to Morgana. She loathed being restrained and couldn't stand wearing them. Gwaine sensed Morgana's distress at the word and bit his lip. He didn't mean to hurt her.

"I have enchanted them so they will not hurt your wrists," Merlin assured Morgana. "I know your skin there is still tender to the abuse they have previously endured." Although Merlin was trying to comfort Morgana, the warlock's attempt failed. Morgana was hurt by anything which was associated with imprisonment. Even though Morgana was far from comfortable with Merlin chaining her, she submissively let him slide the chains on and fasten them. Morgana had not forgotten how heavy shackles could be and groaned at the weight of them. Standing back, Merlin muttered an enchantment his eyes flashing gold and the shackles were light as a feather. He and Gwaine had earlier (with a little bit magic) transformed Morgana's appearance from ill peasant to dying slave.

_Morgana?_ Merlin telepathically sent to her head. _We should use telpathy to communicate so Arthur can't hear us_. Morgana's head gave a slight twitch which Merlin assumed to be a nod. Then she dropped to the ground like a rag doll to keep up her slave pretence. Morgana didn't understand Merlin's absurd idea about her being a slave and Arthur caring about her. It was all nonsense but Morgana did want her magic back so she did obey Merlin.

Whilst Merlin and Morgana had been telepathically communicating, Gwaine had managed to scramble up a tree. Now he could spectate the scene and quietly laugh at the same time. It would have been too hard for Gwaine to keep a straight face whilst gaping at Merlin's ridiculous feminine actions in front of the ignorant king. Gwaine's laughter would arouse suspicion in Arthur. Arthur would eventually realise that the old woman was Merlin. Merlin, Morgana and himself would probably be in great trouble (again!).

In the distance Gwaine managed to make out the blurry silhouettes of mounted men. Surely it had to be the Camelot patrol with Arthur leading them. If it was bandits, they were all in trouble.

Merlin (still trying to pose like a girl) and Morgana seemed to notice the figures in the distance. Extracting a sealed letter, Merlin began to fiddle with his hair to not arouse suspicion in the approaching horsemen. Morgana bowed her head to the ground and tried to light a bundle of kindling. She didn't dare look up at the approaching person. If it was her brother, Morgana would barely be able to contain her hatred of him. She needed to do as Merlin asked her if she wanted her magic back.

"Who are you?" a voice inquired. Morgana didn't dare glance up from her position to see who it was. She could distinguish this cruel voice anywhere- it was Arthur.

"My name is Dolma," Merlin sweetly said in his best feminine tone. "I need to deliver a confidential letter to the king of Camelot. Since you are mounted upon a magnificent destrier, you must be a knight."

If Morgana hadn't been so worried, she would have gave a silky laugh at Merlin's attempt to sound like a woman. Instead she kept her head bowed to the ground worrying that Arthur might run her through.

"I am Arthur Pendragon, King of Camelot," Arthur announced, holding out a hand for Dolma (Merlin) to shake. Dolma did not take his hand but stared at him in disbelief.

"You can't be the king of Camelot," Dolma argued. Now it was Arthur's turn look perplexed.

"Why not?" Arthur wondered, offended.

"Because kings are noble and like lions. You are stupid and like a rat," Dolma laughed. Arthur's face screwed up in concentration. He was obviously trying hard to work out how he looked like a rat.

_What the hell?_Morgana telepathically shouted inside Merlin's head.

_What is life with out a bit of fun,_ Merlin telepathically replied. Morgana gave Merlin an exasperated frown. Arthur still hadn't that Morgana was on the ground behind Merlin. Even though Morgana was literally immobile and camouflaged, Arthur should have noticed her by now. Merlin decided it was about time to draw Arthur's attention to his shackled half-sister.

"Well at least you are not a pig like your father," Dolma assured Arthur. Arthur genuinely seemed baffled at this statement unlike his half-sister who smirked. From Morgana's view Merlin had never spoke a truer word about Uther than what he had said just now

"MY FATH-"

"Your sister looks like a butterfly though," Dolma added folding her arms. "She has fluttery eyelashes and is delicate and is rath-"

_SHUT UP EMRYS!_ Morgana telepathically shouted. Morgana's mood was extremely tetchy as she was still edgy about this situation and did not approve of the joke. Especially when the joke was one that a five year old would make up and find hilarious. She did not have fluttery eye lashes and defintitely was more dangerous than delicate.

"Sorry I was meaning your wife," Dolma apologised. "Morgana has the appearance and personality of a rogue wolf but the fight of a worm."

_SHUT UP! EMRYS! EMRYS! EMRYS!_ Morgana yelled in Merlin's head. Merlin was too busy grinning at Arthur's stunned and bewildered face. It was priceless. The king didn't have a clue about what was going on but seemed to be rather concerned about 'Dolma'.

_Talk properly, Morgana. TALK!_ Merlin telepathically commanded.

Morgana picked herself from the forest floor and rubbed her hands together to get the dirt off them. The jangle of chains was audible to Arthur making him finally spot his half-sister. Even when Arthur spotted Morgana, it took him a while to realise who it was. Merlin and Gwaine had taken hours to make Morgana look the part. They had literally coated her face, hair and hands with mud. Merlin had crushed raspberries and used his magic to make the crushed berries resemble blood. Gwaine had went insane trying to spread raspberry 'blood' all over Morgana's face but Merlin had stopped him the nick of time. Instead the two men had settled for giving Morgana bloody wounds on her wrists and one down her face.

Merlin was impressed by how their handy work fared as Morgana clambered up. Her hair was matted but coated in mud. Her skin was grimy. The 'wound' on her face even had 'pus' (actually a paste of daffodils and honey made of magic). Morgana's appearance gave her the look of a damsel in distress, much to Gwaine's delight.

"I HAVE MORE FIGHT THAN ANYONE!" Morgana suddenly snarled making her brother jump.

Arthur seemed to be genuinely concerned for his barely recognisable sister. He made a gentle gesture to her. His periwinkle eyes seemed large and understanding. Morgana longed to smirk at this. She longed to smirk at her brother's stupidity and ignorance but she couldn't. Arthur's sympathy, for Morgana, was too rare for her to smirk at it. She was more astonished that he could sympathise anyone with magic, except from Emrys, of course. Emrys was 'good' in Arthur's eyes though, something that Morgana would never be again.

"SHUT UP SLAVE!" Dolma shrieked at Morgana. "IF YOU UTTER ANOTHER WORD THEN I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU!"

Morgana opened her mouth in shock at Merlin's shouts. She didn't need to act frightened; Morgana was actually terrified. Now she realised how malicious and angry Merlin could be, the future seemed to be set in stone. Merlin could sense Morgana's fear so he turned his attention back to Arthur and handed him a letter and scroll.

"If you after with the terms than we can both sign this scroll forthwith," Dolma sweetly murmured.

As told, Arthur opened the letter and read:

_Dear the ratty king of blah blah,_

_I have already conquered your sorceress sister and YOU and YOUR KINGDOM will be next! Unless of course you just give me your kingdom, pratty rat. If you won't I will turn you into a rat and take your kingdom anyway. Either way you lose. I win. Also tell your sister to brush her hair more and to get a new look. Green eye shadow is creepy! Dressing in black whilst lurking in the dark is even creepier! _

_Your dungeons do not scare me either. They are the worst. I don't know anyone who has been held captive in them and not escaped. The only thing that is slightly scary about the dungeons are the warning bells. Apparently the warning bells go off 24/7. I suppose they go off because either someone is escaping from the dungeons again, or there is another traitor in Camelot. Apparently there is also a traitor in Camelot 24/7. I have heard that the traitors in Camelot casually roam around, breaking into vaults or even murdering people in front of guards noses._

_Looking forward to taking over the world,_

_Dolma _

_PS. You might want to get better guards. They wouldn't notice me if I walked past them shouting 'I'M GOING TO KILL THE KING!' at the top of my voice._

"I am not just going to give my kingdom to any random person that passes by," Arthur protested. He reread the letter trying to process it. Since when had his guards been that rubbish. Perhaps once or twice a prisoner had escaped, but the guards had all been handpicked and trained by Arthur. There was also most definitely no traitors in Camelot. Morgana and Agravaine were the only two traitors which he had remembered ever setting foot in Camelot.

"Then I shall kill your sister," Dolma announced pulling out a dagger. The dagger was as black as the night sky and cold like snow. The edges of it were impeccably sharpened. No one could say a word against the brutality a person could perform with such a weapon. Morgana's muscles tensed at the sight of it and her legs gave way. She was still enervated from her lack of food and sleep.

_Calm Morgana. Remember it is only an act._

_I am acting,_ Morgana telepathically lied to Merlin.

When Dolma approached Morgana with the lethal dagger and the maniacal grin upon her face, Arthur felt his grip on the handle of his sheathed sword tightening. The king was conflicted. He didn't know what to do. He could let Dolma stab Morgana and wait for the opportune moment to try and stab Dolma or he could try and stab Dolma right now with his sword. Although Arthur had no evidence that Dolma was a sorceress, he was sure that she was a sorceress. Perhaps the fact that she had no weapon apart a dagger on her made Arthur fear that she was a sorceress. Or perhaps it was how she miraculously managed to capture Morgana that made the king sure that she was a sorcereress.

While Arthur had been weighing up his options, a young man had been lurking in the shadows. He slowly unsheathed his sword and leapt out in front of Dolma. Dolma carelessly blasted the young man back much to Morgana's disapproval.

_GO AWAY MORDRED! YOU ARE RUINING THE SCENE_! Merlin telepathically shouted.

_What?_ Mordred's drawling voice asked.

_Do as he says and GO AWAY!_ Morgana ordered.

Mordred stumbled to his feet and clumsily stepped back into the bushes as Morgana commanded him. He wanted to witness the commotion which was about to occur. Mordred also wanted to keep a beady eye on Emrys and prevent Morgana having to cope with his wrath. Morgana's appearance did suggest that she had already endured Merlin's wrath and lived to tell the tale. Although Mordred pretty much knew that Merlin was Dolma, he had no idea why Merlin had suddenly wanted to beguile Arthur. There was something going on here which Mordred did not think he'd like.

Arthur, all this time, had not noticed Mordred spring out of the bushes or get blasted back. The preoccupied king was busy stressing over his conflicted state. In a moments passion, Arthur unsheathed his sword and sprinted over to Dolma. He was about to plunge his sword into Dolma's flesh before Dolma blasted him back. Seeing Morgana's emerald eyes widen in shock at his attempt to rescue her, destroyed Arthur. It shouldn't be shocking news that he wanted to protect his sister. No, that was every brother's duty. A duty which Arthur neglected. Arthur wanted his old Morgana; he needed his old Morgana. Without Morgana, Arthur knew he wouldn't be the king that he was today. Morgana had been his advisor and taught him to think of other people than himself. She had also taught him to speak out against people and acknowledge that contradicting other people's views was no crime. Admiring Morgana's courage, determination, ambition, kindness and strong will, Arthur had tried to copy her ways. Morgana had always been his sister and he didn't care whether it was by blood or not. Arthur loved her and that was all that matters.

By the time Arthur had clambered to his feet, Dolma had chanted a transportation spell. With a gust of wind and the swish of Morgana's cloak, Morgana and Dolma vanished into thin air.

Crack!

Gwaine had slipped, lost his balance and was know tumbling out of the tree. He landed in a pile of mud beside Arthur's feet.

"Why the hell didn't you help me?" Arthur asked Gwaine. Gwaine rubbed the mud out of his eyes, he had better fabricate a believable story.

**I hope you enjoyed that. Anyway in the next chapter the horn of Cathbad will be falling into a certain priestess's possession. Who do you want to come back from the dead? Also Hunith will be giving Morgana into trouble for getting herself filthy (again!) **


	5. The Final Chance

**Reniassancebooklover108- Thanks... Comedy is definitely not my strong point. **

**Bolivianfall- Don't worry I will finish this story. I have just been busy. Thanks.**

**Insanetrouble- I think everyone loves Dolma**

**Mike- Yes I think she would.**

**Junior Woofles- Hmm... I wonder!**

**Sorry its taken me so long to update. I will try and post more regularly again.**

"Emm... Mer- I mean Dolma cast a spell on me to restrain me. I became... immobile," Gwaine fabricated. Arthur frowned at Gwaine's subtle attempt to invent a story. Through Arthur's eyes the story appeared to be valid and reasonable, but there was a glint in Gwaine's mahogany eyes that Arthur did not trust.

"I thought Merlin was going to keep an eye on Morgana," Arthur said in a hushed tone. He paused and glanced around checking that they were not being overhead. "Merlin is, 'apparently', the most powerful sorcerer ever and yet a crooked old lady manages to get hold of Morgana. Either Merlin has been neglecting his duties or has been defeated. He was meant to be protecting Morgana and protecting everyone from her. He has failed."

Arthur gulped. His melancholy and grave expression made him seem old. Inside he felt old. The young king had assumed that his servant had betrayed him. Without a doubt Arthur had cast Merlin away. It was like he had almost expected his servant to be guilty or malicious or even murderess. This wasn't true, though. Was it true? It had taken Gwen's reassuring words to alter Arthur's opinion into thinking that Merlin may not have betrayed him; that Merlin may have been trying to give Morgana a chance- the final chance. It was almost too much to bear. Arthur was exhausted but determined to make amends with Merlin.

"I encountered Merlin before I ran into Dolma," Gwaine invented. "He had been collecting firewood and left Morgana with his mother."

"Merlin has been living in Ealdor?" Arthur interrupted much to Gwaine's displeasure.

"Where better to hide Morgana and keep her safe. Not many people know Merlin's childhood village. Anyway, Merlin went to collect firewood and came home to find his mother lying unconscious upon the floor of her house. Morgana was gone. He went out in search of Morgana and bumped into me. We both spilt up in search of Morgana. Shortly after that I confronted Dolma."

Gwaine apprehensively bit his lip. The story that he had fabricated was impressive (at least from his point of view it was). Gwaine just wondered if Arthur would lap up his lies. For a moment Arthur seemed lost in thought but then he gave Gwaine a curt nod.

"We should seek out Merlin," Arthur announced adjusting the girth of his horse's saddle.

Gwaine remained where he was and allowed himself a small grin. He doubted that Merlin would try to be a girl again. Although Merlin and Morgana had been acting, Gwaine couldn't help noticing their bond. They might 'hate' each other (or pretend to) but their relationship was still incredibly strong. Gwaine wasn't sure what was going on yet it aroused a strange feeling in him. Was more going on between Merlin and Morgana than anybody (including them) was aware of?

...

Merlin and Morgana landed in a lush glade just five minutes from Ealdor. The sorcerer hastily muttered an enchantment. His eyes flashed gold and then Dolma's body and face began to morph into Merlin's. Soon Merlin was standing in his mother's baggy dress which was at least a foot too short for him. It was a sight which Gwaine would die to see. However Morgana was dying to escape Merlin's clutches and wrath. There were a lot more significant tasks she could be performing such as plotting Arthur's demise or vanquishing some annoying people such as Gwaine.

"You are a natural born deceiver, manipulator and actress. You were brilliant at acting like a slave. I almost feel like I could kiss you." Morgana glared at him her lips tight. "I didn't mean I was going to... I just meant... I mean that- Oh great, now I feel like a complete dollophead."

Merlin looked away from Morgana completely flustered. He hadn't meant to say that out loud.

"Just to let you know Emrys, I would rather kiss a swine than you," Morgana hissed. She only felt an adequate amount satisfaction for her snide comment when she should have felt elated. Something wasn't right at all.

"Come on Morgana kissing me wouldn't be that bad would it?" Morgana threw him a dirty look. "Back to calling me 'Emrys' they do say anger is fear turned inwards."

Morgana suddenly dropped into the lush grass. Some early summer flowers sprang up as she landed. Merlin worriedly pulled off Dolma's dress and kicked off Dolma's boots. He had worn a white shirt and beige trousers underneath. Franticly, he kneeled down and grabbed her wrist to check her pulse. It felt steady. Morgana's eyelids flickered open, alert and ready for action. It was intimidating for Merlin to be leaning over her like that not to mention strange.

"And you love and trust will be your downfall," Morgana softly snarled. She gripped Merlin's bony shoulder and pulled herself up.

Her meant-to-be-cruel comment touched Merlin. Barely anyone had ever touched him that much.

"So will yours," Merlin replied. Morgana's mouth opened in surprised. This was the last thing she had expected him to say. "Your love and compassion for Aithusa, Mordred and Alvarr is strong though everyone underestimates it."

Merlin wrapped his arm around Morgana to help her up. Suddenly, he looked up. Hoof beats could be heard in the distance. Morgana froze. Merlin froze. Then into sight came Arthur and Gwaine both mounted upon Arthur's stallion. The horse accidentally splattered mud over Merlin and Morgana as Arthur pulled it to a sudden stop. It reared up and succeeded in tossing Arthur and Gwaine into the mud. Shaking, it's mane the horse trotted away and began to graze on the lush grass. Morgana pushed Merlin away from her and retreating a few paces.

"Right you two love birds," Gwaine began spitting out some mud. "Agh.. Anyway what are the lovebirds saying? "

Morgana gazed upwards into the treetops in search of something. She then looked around the clearing but failed to find whatever she was looking for.

"Where are these 'love birds'?" Morgana frostily inquired. "I can't even see any birds."

Arthur held his muddy face in the muddy palms of his muddy hands. Morgana's ignorance still managed to exasperate him. How could she not understand that her and Merlin were the lovebirds?

"Is she being serious?" Gwaine whispered to Arthur. "I presume she is acting?"

"I think Morgana is being serious," Arthur quietly replied. "She tended to be very serious even when she was a child. Except when we stole food from the palace kitchens or when we laced our father's medicine with laxatives. We had overdosed him so much that he wasn't right for weeks." Gwaine heartily chortled. Merlin and Morgana both gaped at him in bewilderment. Neither Merlin nor Morgana had heard anything Arthur had whispered to his fellow knight.

"Bet you he never saw that coming," Gwaine chuckled. "LAXATIVES in medicine... It sounds like something I would of done."

Morgana took a few tentative but graceful steps forward. The memories that Gwaine was stirring within her troubled her. For many years she had not relived the memories of her childhood with Arthur. Her childhood should have been melancholy, being an orphan, but it was somewhat action packed, exciting and in general Morgana had been a relatively happy child. Living in Camelot with Uther and Arthur should have been terrible but once Morgana had got to grips with what kind of people they were, it was fine.

"Uther used to give the most illuminating speeches at feasts. Arthur loathed them more than anything else so he came to me asking how to prevent Uther giving the speech. You see Arthur knew I was a lot more intelligent than him."

"You are NOT more intelligent than me," Arthur indignantly retaliated. Merlin bit back a laugh. Morgana and Arthur were like properly acting like siblings. They were always bickering, trying to out do themselves and wanting what the other sibling had (in their case a castle and kingdom). Morgana and Arthur. had just unfortunately taken it to a rather extreme level.

"I am MORE intelligent dear brother. I am a High Priestess of the Old Rel-"

"You've already told me a hundred times sister," Arthur argued "Just look where being a sorceress and a High Princess-"

"High Priestess," Morgana corrected.

"-has got you!" Arthur finished.

"How about we ask Emrys, the most powerful sorcerer ever," Morgana suggested. "Emrys who is more clever, Arthur or I?"

Merlin froze on the spot pretending to not have heard Morgana. He absentmindedly rubbed his chin but kept his gaze averted from them. The truth was that he couldn't answer Morgana's question without starting a war.

"You heard Morgana, who is more clever?" Arthur roughly interrogated. This put Merlin in a rather uncomfortable position. If he said Arthur was more intelligent, then Morgana would most certainly try and kill Arthur. If Merlin said Morgana was more intelligent, then then Arthur would hate him forever. If Merlin refused to reply then they would both eternally hate him.

"Well Morgana is quicker to pick things up," Merlin explained. "She's adaptable but uses knowledge in the wrong ways. Arthur, you use it well but you have a hard-"

"So the mighty Emrys describes me as being 'adaptable'. I am sure that everyone thinks of me as being adaptable," Morgana hissed interrupting Merlin. Merlin's mouth was slightly ajar but the ends of his mouth were twitching into a smile. "Perhaps I have knocked him unconscious so many times that he has no brain cells left."

"You are right," Arthur agreed. "Merlin speaks incoherent nonsense sometimes. It's probably to do with the fact that he is ... he is a clotpole."

"That word is copyrighted by me," Merlin protested.

"And it suits you perfectly," Arthur laughed. "We should go to Ealdor for the night. That Dolma may still be around there..." Arthur shuddered and looked cautiously around the clearing. Then he began to saunter off in the direction of Ealdor.

Winking at Merlin, Gwaine put a hand over his mouth to muffle his laughter. Merlin felt slightly nauseous with apprehensive. If Arthur found out that he was Dolma... The warlock glanced at Morgana; it had been worth it.

"Honestly, why does everyone think they can control my life," Morgana indignantly remarked. "I am a free person." Merlin looked at Morgana with a daft grin etched upon his face. Morgana scowled at Merlin but surprisingly followed her brother. Both Gwaine and Merlin watched Morgana set off in astonishment. Morgana hadn't obeyed her brother's commands in years. It was as if Morgana was the proper Morgana. It was as if she had gone through redemption.

"That's why I like her," Gwaine laughed once Arthur and Morgana were out of earshot. Merlin nodded in argument. "That attitude... "

"... would be something you wouldn't like to be on the receiving end of," Merlin finished for Gwaine.

"Do you love her for her attitude," Gwaine teased heading off after Arthur. Merlin slowly dragged his feet lagging behind the knight.

"Why does everyone think that I love her?" Merlin asked. Although was meant to be a rhetorical question, Gwaine felt duty bound to answer it.

"Everyone thinks it because you do love her," Gwaine replied exasperatedly shaking his head. Merlin didn't know what to think about this. He did feel odd when Morgana was around but this surely wasn't because he loved her- or did he? Merlin didn't trust himself to say anything to Gwaine in reply, so he just kept his mouth firmly shut. Gwaine chuckled to himself. He didn't know who was more ignorant; Merlin and Morgana were as ignorant as each other.

It should have taken them a mere thirty minutes to stride to Ealdor but with Morgana still being enervated and weak after five minutes their pace had significantly decreased. She limped and stumbled until Gwaine took pity upon her and lifted her into his robust arms. Although Morgana wanted to protest she didn't have the energy. Every minute it became darker and by the time Ealdor came into the group's sight, night had fallen. Since it was dark, the four of them managed to sneak into Merlin's childhood home without anybody catching them.

"Mother," Merlin quietly said looking around the room. Hunith was nowhere to be seen.

"Merlin," Hunith sighed hurrying in from the adjoining room. She pulled her son into a tight embrace. "Thank the heavens. I was worried sick about you." Once Merlin and Hunith broke apart, Hunith looked around the room at everyone.

"I'm sorry I didn't warn you about the visitors mother," Merlin apologised.

"It's my fault," Arthur began stepping forward. "I tol-"

"The more the merrier," Hunith smiled. She glanced at Morgana who looked like she was about to faint or collapse. "Here, my girl." Hunith pulled out a wooden chair for Morgana to sit on but Morgana remained standing.

"I need to leave," Morgana muttered stumbling towards the door.

"NO!" Gwaine, Merlin and Arthur chorused.

Morgana turned around in shock. She either had three men trying to protect the world from her, or three men trying to protect her from the world. Whichever scenario it was Morgana strangely felt herself liking it. Perhaps, after the complete isolation from humans for three years, company and socialisation was still a novelty for Morgana.

The priestess ended up hobbling to the wooden chair and collapsed in it. Over the next half hour Morgana's eyes drooped as she vaguely watched everyone help prepare supper. She didn't have the energy to sleep but she didn't feel hungry. Potatoes were peeled, tomatoes were washed and the fish were gutted and cooked over the fire. Even when the aroma was mouth-watering Morgana still found herself not wanting to eat. This contradicted Gwaine who was ravenous and desperately needing to consume an apple.

Even when everyone else had eaten their supper, Morgana still found herself dreaming and unable to eat anything. She had found herself drifting in and out consciousness. An excruciating head ache had started and all she found herself wanting to do was sleep. It happened that Morgana didn't have the energy to hobble through to the bedroom by herself. Someone would have to assist her and she doubted that Hunith, Gwaine, Merlin or Arthur would allow her to go to bed without eating something.

"C'mon Morgana," Merlin gently murmured nudging the side of her ribcage with his elbow. "You need eat something." Morgana didn't reply or move an inch, she just stared at Merlin rather dejectedly. "Alright this will work- if you don't eat anything I will have to feed you."

"Love is in the air," Gwaine remarked biting into an apple. Merlin spun around to see his friend laughing. "I said nothing." Gwaine held his hands up in the air in surrender whilst continuing to annihilate his apple. "You should at least devour an apple Morgana. An apple a day, keeps the physicians away!"

Hunith and Arthur exchanged exasperated looks about the whole situation. Merlin's attempt to make Morgana eat some of the fish was successful and she consumed three mouthfuls. After this Merlin helped Morgana clamber up and hobble into the bed in the adjoining room. He covered her with a couple of thick, woollen blankets. Then he sat against the wall burying his chin into his knees. As he lay there, Merlin watched the comforting rise and fall of Morgana's chest. The sound of her inhaling and exhaling also soothed Merlin. For now she was alive and safe. For now he could rest assured that she was in no immediate peril.

Merlin could feel his vision blurring and his eyes closing. He could feel himself drifting into a tranquil sleep until someone put a hand over his face and shook him awake. Merlin bolted awake to see Arthur crouched next to him.

"I need to leave tomorrow at first light," Arthur whispered. The whole of Camelot was bound to be looking for him by tomorrow evening if he didn't turn up. Gwen would be out of her mind with worry. "I need to ask you a favour as a friend." Arthur paused glancing at Morgana to make sure she was sleeping. He didn't want to be overheard by anyone especially not Morgana. "Morgana is asleep isn't she? We must not be overheard?"

"A friend," Merlin echoed, astounded. "That'll be a first. But yes Morgana is asleep,"

"You are such a cabbage head Mer-"

"Stop stealing my words! You are such a-" Merlin broke off when he saw Morgana stirring. She mumbled something incoherent and writhed a bit as she did when she was having a-

"Nightmare!" Merlin exclaimed

"I am not a nightmare!" Arthur protested. Merlin sighed. He had been referring to the nightmare that Morgana was having just now. Of course Arthur was extremely ignorant so it didn't come as much of a surprise. "Merlin what is going to happen to." Arthur nodded his head indicating it towards Morgana.

Merlin shrugged. To be honest the young warlock hadn't thought about Morgana's future. He knew that they couldn't remain in Ealdor for much longer. It wouldn't be long until the villagers began to act suspiciously about her or until someone recognised her.

"I think you should stay with her. She needs to be looked after by someone and I know that you won't let her out of your sight. Perhaps for a month or two. I'll manage to keep myself alive." Merlin raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"You do need my help but so does Morgana. If she came back to Camelot, than perhaps I would be able to but..."

"It wouldn't be possible," Arthur accurately finished. "She can't be kept hidden because she wouldn't stand for it and if I announced it publicly then there would most likely be rioting." Morgana continued to writhe and the blankets toppled off the bed. Quietly, Merlin stumbled to his feet and gently tucked her back in. Arthur watched his servant with a puzzled expression upon his face. It was strange to see Merlin helping his sister.

"You do care for her," Arthur murmured. Merlin gave him a sad smile; sad and melancholy.

"Yes, I do care for Morgana," he sorely said. There was a lump in his throat. "I can't deny it. Don't tell her though or she will probably assume that it is a manipulative trick to make her change her allegiances."

"At least stay here a week and do not let her out of your sight for a minute or else that Dolma will probably get her hands on her. Or else the bandits, hunters or even ordinary people may just capture her. There is an award for the capture of her in all the kingdoms of Albion. She is probably one of the most wanted person in Albion." With this Arthur clapped Merlin's shoulder and departed the room.

Merlin knew the peril he was in by being in any sort of contact with Morgana but found himself wanting to engage more with her everyday. He cursed this feeling but he couldn't stop it.

...

Morgana couldn't fall asleep. She could feel Merlin's eyes burning in the back of her skull. It was fortunate she was highly experienced in feigning sleep. She had found out that Uther was her father by feigning sleep and had also overheard many conversations. Feigning sleep was a useful skill to have acquired.

Earlier on, Morgana had heard someone entering the bedroom. Her hearing was still acute despite her exhausted state. By judging the weight of the footsteps and the speed of it, Morgana had guessed it to be Arthur. She had been proved right when the person had spoke saying that they needed to ask Merlin a favour. Morgana had almost sighed here. The favour that Arthur would ask would probably be something stupid. When Arthur had said that he didn't want Morgana to overhear the favour, Morgana became excited. It would probably be some top secret information concerning Camelot. Arthur was stupid enough to shout confidential information in the same room as her when she was awake so no doubt he would when she was 'asleep'.

Then the two had got sidetracked and started calling each other names. Morgana had been tempted to yell at them but had restrained herself- she needed to find out what the favour was. The priestess decided to end the argument by pretending to have a nightmare. Arthur and Merlin had then had an interesting conversation about her. Although Arthur hadn't directly asked Merlin the favour, he had firmly suggested that Merlin should keep an eye on Morgana for a couple of months. Morgana's brain began to turn off in the middle of the conversation. She didn't stay awake long enough to hear the end of the conversation and fell into an uneasy sleep with Merlin's words of 'Yes I do care for Morgana' burning her brain.

...

NOOOOOOOOOOO!

Morgana bolted up. It was still pitch black but a scream pierced the night.

NOOOOOOOOOOO!

Morgana clambered to her feet. The scream wasn't piercing the night, it was piercing her brain. The scream was telepathic. Morgana looked at Merlin in alarm, he was still fast asleep; asleep and snoring. The telepathic screams couldn't be affecting him. Not wanting to wake the warlock Morgana crept through the house and out of the door. The air was humid for an early summer's night but ground was cool against her bare feet.

The telepathic screams still echoed in her brain. Automatically, she sprinted towards the source of the screams. Morgana wasn't quite aware of what was happening but her eyes were permanently glowing gold. It was as if she was in a dream.

Finally Morgana arrived at her destination; it was a normal, snug village. However, the activity that the villagers were taken part in was not normal. Each villager from the elderly to the little toddlers were holding a flaming torch. All of them had formed a flaming circle around a pyre and stake. A crooked old woman was tightly bound with coarse rope to the dilapidated stake . The crowd of people were jeering and chanting 'Burn the witch!'. This scene was uncannily familiar to Morgana. The only difference was that she had been the person bound to the stake.

Morgana found herself almost floating through the crowd of people, her eyes were still glowing gold. Shutting her eyes firmly, Morgana begged for it just to be another nightmare. When she opened her eyes, it was pitch black. Morgana could see no one but the figure of the woman bound to the stake.

"WHOEVER DOES THIS SHALL BE FOREVER CURSED!" Morgana yelled. Her brain hadn't told her mouth to yell these words, it had just happened automatically. With strength that she did not have, Morgana carried the woman into the forest.

"Thank you Morgana Pendragon," the woman wearily said in Morgana's arms. Morgana placed the woman on the ground and sat her up against a pine tree.

"How did you know my name?" Morgana inquired.

"You are the last High Priestess of the Old Religion and are Emrys's destiny and doom."

"I am Merlin's doom," Morgana incredulously said. "If he is my doom and I am his doom, does that me we stab each other at the same time."

"It would be naïve to say that my child but soon everything will be vivid. I have a gift for you. You have the qualities of a true priestess." The old woman extracted an ivory horn from her pocket. "The Horn of Cathbhadh has the powers to summon the sprits of the dead." She carefully handed the horn to Morgana. Holding it up, Morgana examined the horn in the pool of moonlight.

"I-I must n-now tell you two things," the old woman stammered. Her voice was beginning to fade. "Firstly Em-Emrys must not find out about the savage manor or we will be annihilated and secondly remember d-do l-l-look back." The woman's eyes became wide and glassy. Morgana checked for a pulse but could not find one. The woman was gone.

Morgana picked herself off the ground and limped into the distance with the horn clutched at her side. Morgause had mentioned the Horn of Cathbhadh many a time. She had told Morgana how she had longed to find this horn. All Morgana had to do now was to find the Great Stones of Nemeton and then she could see her sister. Morgana had dreamt of this moment for years.

Morgana shut her eyes again and tried to think of where the Great Stones of Nemeton could possibly be. Perhaps they located in or beside Nemeth. Sighing, Morgana opened her eyes to see that she was not in the woods with the corpse of the old woman lying in front of her. No she had somehow miraculously managed to get herself from the woods to the Great Stones of Nemeton in a split second. Fortunately, the horn was still clasped in Morgana's hand. Shakily, Morgana rose the horn to her lips and blew hard. A light appeared and Morgana curiously stumbled towards it. Soon she was enclosed in a world full of light.

"It's been too long, sister." Morgana swivelled around on the spot to see a figure watching. It was-

"Morgause?"

**Is there anything you want Morgana and Morgause to discuss in the next chapter? Please causes because it makes me really happy! ;D**


	6. Kiss?

**JAIMOL- Thanks and I hope you enjoy the conversation.**

**Mike3204- Thanks for the great ideas as usual. I've tried to include a few of them.**

**Junior Woofles- Yes although the 'sisterly' conversation isn't all that friendly...**

**Thanks for reading, hope** **you enjoy as always**!

"It is me sister!" Morgause gasped. "I have missed you."

The scar on Morgause's face was bigger than Morgana remembered. Her mahogany eyes looked dull, drained and were beginning to lose their colour. Morgause's blond hair was dirty and bristly but still cascaded down her back.

Morgana tightly embraced Morgause as a few tears trickled down her porcelain cheek. They broke apart and Morgause gently wiped Morgana's tears away.

"I thought I'd never see you again," Morgana laughed still crying. Morgana should have been ashamed to be shedding tears but she wasn't. The tears were also tears of joy as well as grief and sadness.

"There is a difference between impossible and highly improbable, Morgana. Remember that."

Morgause brushed her hand against Morgana's cheek wiping away the tears. Morgana didn't meet Morgause's eyes. Morgana couldn't meet Morgause's eyes. Guilt was killing her.

"I am truly sorry for everything, Morgause," Morgana apologised.

Morgana sighed. She felt extremely guilty for failing the mission that Morgause had died for. An apology didn't seem enough to make amends. Morgana wanted to do something more to show how remorseful and sincere she felt about the matter.

"I have watched you day and night since I joined the deceased. You have crumbled and become very vocal. Fear has got to you. Those Saxons crushed you and so did Emrys. You were on the brink of death more times than I could count. You put your life on the line for Mordred, Aithusa and Morrigan. But you have been neglecting our kind. You have not tried very hard to thwart Arthur and conquer Camelot."

Morgana frowned. Hadn't she been doing well enough fighting the Saxons? The Saxons had been as bad, if not worse than Arthur. They had ruthlessly murdered everyone in their path whereas Arthur only persecuted people associated with magic.

Morgause had no right to say that Morgana had been neglecting their kind, Morgana had been slightly busy and preoccupied in the past eight months. Being humiliated, flogged, tortured, imprisoned, taunted, sentenced to death, assaulted, burnt at the stake had been the least of her worries in the past eight months. Morgana was more concerned about Emrys and the persecution of her kin. Thinking about Emrys, made Morgana realise a significant factor to loathing Emrys.

"It was Emrys," Morgana said. Morgause frowned at the out of the blue statement. "Emrys scarred you. Emrys blasted you against that wall. Gaius wouldn't be powerful enough. Emrys as good as killed as good as killed you."

Morgana exchanged an unsure glance with Morgause. Her face was close to shedding more tears but Morgana managed to hold them back. No, she, Morgana, would not cry more. She would not cry for Emrys. Emrys was just a pathetic traitor and sorcerer. He was not worth her tears or anybody else's tears. He was barbaric and deluded.

"Yes," Morgause softly spoke agreeing to Morgana's worst fear. "It was the servant boy."

Morgana could feel the anger building up inside her. He had lied to her. He had deceived her. He had manipulated her. He had betrayed her. Worst of all he had revealed a vulnerable side to her; a loving side to her. Love had cost Morgana everything. Everything had gone wrong because of love. She had loved Arthur, Gwen, Mordred, Alvarr, Uther and even Merlin in a mutual, aquatinted sort of way. One by one she had been betrayed by all of them.

Uther had always murdered and killed magical people but when he sentenced Alvarr to death, Morgana had realised how cruel he actually was.

Arthur followed his father's ways instead of thinking for himself and making up his own laws. He had led raids on Druid camps and had done nothing to help people with magic (with exception of saving Mordred). Morgana would never ever forgive Arthur after he had sentenced her to death.

Gwen had sworn loyalty to Arthur and not Morgana. She had then stolen Morgana's 'rightful' place as queen of Camelot. Although Morgana had just been the king's ward, she had been treated like a princess. Most citizens of Camelot had expected her to betroth Arthur and become queen. Morgana had never thought of marrying Arthur. On the seldom occasion that Morgana did end up talking or thinking about Arthur, Morgana had thought about teasing him, avoiding him or tricking him. Morgana had never thought about being queen either. Being noble born, Morgana had basically got whatever she wanted and she had had no ambition to rule over anywhere.

Mordred had left her to die a slow and shameful death with the Saxons. Morgana had half-heartedly accepted Mordred's apology when he told her that he had known that Aithusa would save her. Although Morgana pretended to trust Mordred, she could never obliviously trust Mordred like she had done before.

Alvarr had unintentionally and indirectly tortured Morgana. Morgana still hadn't forgiven him and acted frostily towards him when Mordred wasn't around.

Morgana didn't know where to start with Merlin; the list amounted to much more than anybody else. Yet, Morgana found that she trusted him. More than Arthur. More than Alvarr. Even more than Mordred. More than any other living person. She still trusted Aithusa and Morgause more. Merlin understood her yet didn't understand her. He knew what she was going through but couldn't understand what was happening. He couldn't understand her actions; no human could. Only Aithusa could. Everybody hated her. Perhaps if they understood her things would be different. Perhaps her life wouldn't be a terrible mess.

In all her life Morgana had learnt one thing: love was a peril and sheerly abominable. Love was wasteful; a weakness. Morgana had loved people and they had betrayed her. Love had not made her gain anything. All love had done was hurt her. Every minute of everyday she was hurt by something. Love was the fundamental cause of it all. At least now Morgana knew not to fall in love. It was too expensive. Love cost pain. Pain that Morgana could not bear.

"Why does it happen to me?" Morgana tearily asked. She proudly held back the tears. Emotions were another thing she had learnt to detest. "Love is torturous."

"I hope that you are not in love with that ridiculous knight," Morgause gasped in horror. Morgause had watched that knight with his ludicrous manner and preposterous ways. He was definitely an unsuitable suitor for her sister.

Morgana let out a small haunting laugh. If she was in love with Gwaine she would never hear the end of Applesia. He'd be asking when she had last consumed an apple every second.

"No, it's not Gwaine," Morgana paused wondering whether to carry on. Morgause narrowed her eyes daring Morgana on. "It's Mer- I don't know. I don't know what's happening. I want it to stop. I can't stop it. He makes me happy. Happiness feels really wrong. I want to be miserable. It's all here inside my brain I wish... I wish that I had no feelings. If I did everything would be alright. Why him? It could have been anyone."

Morgana tearfully glanced at Morgause, horrified. She had just poured her soul, her thoughts and troubles to Morgause. Though she regretted it Morgana felt considerably lighter like a weight had been lifted of her shoulders.

"I say Morgana," Morgause sweetly laughed. "The temptation of a servant boy who has beguiled you. It must be hard not being able to love him. You are a traitor to our kind sister." Morgana collapsed to her knees. She was sure she was crying.

"I do not love him Morgause," Morgana sobbed. "I thought you would understand." Morgause silkily laughed at this making Morgana feel more and more frustrated. She didn't like being conflicted.

"Then kill him," Morgause hissed.

"I care for him," Morgana wept. "I will never want to kill him after what he did for me the other day."

Morgause was about make a smart retort but she shut her mouth. Morgana was still young and childlike in some psychological aspects. For instance she couldn't handle emotional distress or love

"It is up to you sister," Morgause sighed. "If you think Emrys's way is the best way forward for our kin then go for. Don't let your irrational love for him cloud the best way forward for our kind. Just remember that I love you. You don't have to love me in return. Think of me when you are distressed as I will be watching you from above."

Morgause kissed Morgana's cheek and embraced her sister for one last time. It was highly improbable that they would see each other again.

The tears still trickled down Morgana's cheeks as she turned around. Her eyes were puffy and a nautical green shade due to all the crying. It was all because of love and Morgana was determined not to let it happen again. She wouldn't love anyone or anything from now on. It would be for the best.

...

_He was flying on Aithusa with Morgana. They were soaring past mountains and pine forests until they landed in a quiet glade. He and Morgana dismounted the hound dragon. Aithusa reluctantly flew away. He began to kiss her. She had her hands upon his hips. He wanted to be lost in this moment_.

"Merlin. Merlin, wake up."

_He and Morgana broke apart. Morgana was crying. She had apparently warned him about what would happen. He hadn't listened to her. He had been too busy thinking about little Morganas running around with their eyes glowing gold._

"Mer-LIN! NOW!" This distant voice wasn't enough to distract Merlin from the dream.

_Little cute Morganas. The real Morgana sighed. She had warned him. He watched Morgana collapse. He watched her lungs stop. He watched her die_.

"MORGANA!" The voice was still vague but was vivider from before. He was waking up

"No!" Merlin groaned. Merlin bolted up sweating violently. "What does it mean?"

Arthur leant over Merlin with a worried expression upon his face.

"Morgana has vanished," Arthur exclaimed. "Her-" Merlin wasn't listening. That was the second time he had dreamt that dream. It had to mean something. Every normal dream meant something. Merlin was sure it was just a normal dream that his brain was telling him who he was in love with. Dreams were just fantasies of everyday life. Merlin wasn't surprised that he had dreamt of Morgana dying as she had been in thousands of close to death situations.

"MERLIN ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME!" Arthur thundered roughly shaking Merlin's shoulder. He finally managed to attract the young warlock's attention.

"Wha- A-Arthur?" Merlin stammered. Arthur flung his hand over indicating to the empty bed across the room.

"Where is Morgana?" Arthur inquired. Merlin stressfully shrugged. "You were meant to be keeping both eyes AND both ears on her."

"Don't worry, I'll find her," Merlin assured. "I shouldn't be too long." Arthur didn't have time to get a word in edgeways before Merlin darted off.

Merlin was going at a furiously fast pace. He almost knocked Gwaine over but dodged out the way.

"Where's the fire?" Gwaine joked. Merlin ignored him and kept on sprinting. He ran out of the house, through Ealdor and into the forest. Merlin didn't stop running until he arrived at a desolate clearing in the forest

For a while Merlin stood immobile breathing heavily. He needed to make sure he was isolated from everyone in a deserted area of the forest before he could resume what he had planned to do. Bird song floated around the clearing interrupting Merlin's train of thought.

Merlin couldn't understand where Morgana had mysteriously vanished to or how she had vanished. Last night Morgana had behaved so enervated and feeble that it seemed like she was unable to perform basic magic spells or walk a short distance. Illness had taken its toll. Yet somehow Morgana had miraculously managed to escape his grasp and elude him.

Since Merlin was sure that the clearing was not occupied by anyone else, he muttered the ancient words to summon a dragon.

Swooping into the clearing, Aithusa roared making fire shoot out her nostrils at Merlin who dodged out the way. She landed loudly and thumped her tail against the ground in fury.

"Emrys. What is it you want?" Aithusa snarled, small flames erupting out her nostrils in warning.

Merlin stated at the young dragon in pity. Poor Aithusa had been spending far too much time with Morgana and was now loathed him too. Perhaps if Aithusa saw Morgana with him just now the young dragon would act friendlier.

"Aithusa I am worried," Merlin explained. Aithusa abruptly set the nearest tree alight in anger. Emrys summoned her to tell her his worries. Merlin hastily murmured a spell to extinguish the tree. "Morgana may be in trouble and I want you to take me too her."

...

The previous night after she had seen Morgause, Morgana had stumbled back into the forest, collapsed and fell into a slumber. She had no time to worry about the consequences of what she had automatically done. Morgana's slumber concluded of a few mix matched dreams. She heard the wind howling and the scuffling of some nocturnal beast as she wove in and out of sleep. Her dreams were weird but did not seem to be prophetic.

Morgana. Emrys is looking for you.

The telepathy did not not disturb Morgana as she was now in a deep and dreamless sleep.

The lack of response to her telepathic message worried Aithusa so the dragon submissively allowed Merlin to clamber upon her back. She stretched her scaly wings and then took off into the crimson sky. The day was dawning.

Aithusa could could cover long distances in minutes while carefully observing the landscape for Morgana. It didn't even take the young dragon half an hour to spot the priestess. As soon as Aithusa landed she blew onto Morgana to heal her physical afflictions. This woke Morgana and made her bolt up to see the young dragon. Not realising Merlin was at Aithusa's side Morgana wrapped her arms around the dragon's scaly neck. It was warmer and whiter than Morgana remembered it. Aithusa had grown slightly too in the past week.

"The stones of Nemeton," Merlin remarked. "What are you doing here?" Morgana released Aithusa from her clutches and turned around to gaze the loathsome person right in front of her. He had almost killed her sister yet he was acting as he normally did. Shouldn't that be playing on his conscience?

"I don't know," Morgana lied. She didn't want Merlin to find out about her visit to Morgause so she decided to half-lie. "I woke up my eyes were continously glowing gold and then I ended up here. It was like I was possessed. I don't know where all of the energy came from.

"Here of all places though," Merlin suspiciously stated.

Fortunately, Aithusa sensed the danger that Morgana was heading into so she decided to break the tension.

"You look exhausted Morgana," Aithusa announced. "Let me take you back to the village to rest."

"Will you be able to carry both of us?" Morgana yawned her eyelids drooping.

"I still may be quite small but my magic builds my strength so I will manage."

Aithusa gracefully dropped to her knees to let a drowsy Morgana clamber onto her back. Merlin easily managed pull his body behind the sleepy priestess just before Aithusa took off.

...

It took them ten minutes to travel back to Ealdor on Aithusa's back. Although Arthur was less than happy with his sister, he was in a strange jokey mood. As Merlin supported Morgana in limping to the house, Arthur approached them with Gwaine at his side. Arthur was merrily whistling whilst swinging hand cuffs in his hand. He pushed one cuff onto Merlin's right wrist

"So you don't get lost," Arthur laughed sliding the other cuff onto Morgana's wrist. Morgana smirked as she submissively let Arthur lock the shackles.

"You think that will stop me," Morgana quietly murmured. Her voice was soft but yet hate was somehow etched into every syllable. Arthur had no right to chain her up. True he was the king and could do whatever he wanted but he was a tyrant just like his father.

Merlin bit his lip. There was an aurora around the cuffs which he knew and did not like at this precise moment. This stirred a memory and made Merlin feel extremely uncomfortable.

"I will break these chains." Morgana didn't need to say an incantation to get her eyes to flash gold and cast the spell. When she did cast the spell nothing happened.

"What did you to the cuffs?" Morgana fiercely inquired. Arthur just stared at Merlin. "You didn't enchant these shackles did you Emrys?"

"Morgana I-" Merlin began.

"You idiot!" Morgana exclaimed. Arthur was meanwhile muttering something to Gwaine. Neither Morgana nor Merlin was able to make it out.

"I will have to amputate your hand so we can get free," Merlin teased. "Don't worry you will only lose twenty-seven bones. You will still have a hundred and seventy-nine bones left in your body."

"If it's not something to worry about why aren't you offering to lose your hand?" Merlin flattened his hair (with his left hand) and thought carefully. He needed to be quick though as Morgana's eyes were burning into his.

"Because my umm... my right hand is my main hand. Without it my hands are useless... and I can't do anything.. and I am hopel-"

"Liar!" Morgana injected.

Whilst Merlin and Morgana had been bickering, Arthur had slyly slipped out the door. Merlin after a few minutes noticed the absence of his master and frowned. Morgana was still issuing threats and taunts to Merlin but he managed to lock eyes with Gwaine who was smiling away to himself. Merlin was extremely displeased at how his friend was amused at the position he had been put in.

"Arthur has gone back to Camelot you lovebirds. Carry on bickering though, there was a lot of sexual tension in it," Gwaine laughed.

Morgana opened her mouth, mortified. The priestess couldn't help thinking of all the awkward and horrible things she would have to endure if she was chained to Merlin for a week or so.

"I have the key," Gwaine simply said taking the key out of his pocket and waving it in front of the pair's noses.

"Pass that over!" Morgana viciously ordered.

If it had been any other person, Morgana would have knocked them unconscious without a seconds thought but she had developed a soft spot for Gwaine. He was beyond annoying: annoyingly jokey, annoyingly stupid, annoying manipulative and annoyingly ate apples all day long. These were only a few of his annoying traits and habits. Morgana also found him annoying charismatic and annoying charming. He could charm anyone into to liking him in a split second.

"Don't worry, I won't kill you Gwaine," Morgana assured. "Just pass me the key so things will not get nasty."

"I will kill you if you don't pass us the key," Merlin threatened.

Gwaine chuckled at Merlin's remark and smiled. His eyes were alight with a childish fever which no one could extinguish.

"I might pass you the key," Gwaine teased. He paused and pondered over his next words.

"Please the almighty Sir Gwaine," Morgana pleaded

"Please, old friend," Merlin begged. "Even Morgana is pleading which is a first."

"If you kiss each other on the lips," Gwaine finished.

Morgana was looking at Gwaine like she was looking at a troll. The look of disgust on her face couldn't be rivalled by anyone. She couldn't begin to comprehend how horrible it would be to kiss Merlin. It was only yesterday that Morgana had stated that she would rather 'kiss a swine' than kiss Merlin.

Merlin glanced hopefully at Morgana. A feeling was arousing in Merlin. This feeling was kicking in and pushing him to kiss Morgana. He was falling for someone who wasn't his type. Merlin was completely sure that they weren't compatible yet he felt strange. He wasn't too sure what the strangeness meant but had a vague idea in his mind.

"I think we should just kiss. You don't want to have to watch me emptying my bladder," Merlin uncomfortably whispered.

Morgana felt sickened by all the thoughts he had stirred in her mind and nodded in agreement. One small kiss was a lot easier than spending a whole week chained to the person who you 'hated the most in the whole world'.

Merlin took a deep breathe and counted to three. Then he gave Morgana a hasty kiss on her lips. Morgana had closed her eyes so that she could try and forget who was giving her the kiss. The brief kiss had been so brief and light that it wasn't a kiss just more a touching of the lips.

"You call that a kiss," Gwaine scoffed folding his arms. "Your lips didn't even make contact."

Morgana felt like slapping the knight. He was behaving more annoyingly than usual. He helping make her horrible dream of Merlin being a face eater come true. Yet it couldn't come true. Merlin and her had a neutral opinion about each other. They had even agreed an unspoken ceasefire for now.

"I suppose your idea of kissing is when two people eat each other's faces," Morgana hissed keeping as refined and calm as she could.

"Yes," Gwaine happily agreed.

"Get on with it then Emrys," Morgana snarled. "Or are too scared of me?"

Morgana was frozen to the spot as Merlin kissed her harshly. It was bitter yet it caused a certain wave of excitement to surge through her body. She wanted to kiss him passionately back but she couldn't. It wouldn't be right. Long ago they had denied the chance to become closer. He was a liar and deceiver-he couldn't be trusted. When they broke apart all Morgana felt was bitter remorse. It was too late for any relationship to begin. She had truly turned her back on love.

"Are you happy now?" Morgana snapped her eyes's teary. She was just able to hold back her tears. How Morgana hated tears and emotions. They made her feel vulnerable.

Merlin glared at Gwaine making his grin falter. The warlock felt as if the knight had purposely upset Morgana even though Gwaine was trying to help in his own twisted way.

"I only said MIGHT..." Gwaine teased. He was enjoying observing the sexual tension between Merlin and Morgana. For instance Merlin was over protective when anyone hurt or said something that upset Morgana. Morgana also snapped at Merlin for sometimes no apparent reason. She did snap at most people but not in the same way as she snapped at Merlin. They also spent the who time glaring at each other or giving each other death stares. Gwaine thought this was rather sweet and a way of showing each other how they really felt.

Merlin and Morgana didn't even realise the chemistry or feelings they had for each other. Anyone could notice it but either they acted oblivious to it or they really were oblivious. This was Gwaine's opinion, anyway.

**The next chapter features Merlin and Morgana discovering something small, cute and noisy. Merlin will also go to Camelot so he can ask Gaius for advice.**


	7. The Problems with Being Chained Together

**ray1- I was more thinking along the line of ewoks...**

**Renaissancebooklover18- Gwaine can be useful and amazing **

**Junior Woofles- Yeah well that could be a while yet**

Morgana and Merlin had almost been chained up together for an hour. The hour had consisted of permanent bickering and arguing between them. First they argued about where they wanted to go. Then they snapped about how to wrestle the key of Gwaine. After that they quarrelled over who would win if they had a magical fight chained to each other. Merlin and Morgana will still in dispute about amputating each others hands and were arguing about it right now.

Gwaine spectated the arguments sitting in the shadows of the room. He was amused at all of the arguing over trivial contradictions. It didn't take someone with common sense to work out that they cared. Gwaine was 'arguably' severely lacking in common sense and he had managed to notice Merlin and Morgana's feelings. Since he had discovered Merlin had magic, the knight had always felt strange when Merlin and Morgana were mentioned in the same sentence. Morgana and Merlin. The witch and warlock. Dark and light. In Gwaine's eyes it all concluded in them being linked together. Now he was sure that they were linked together. True, it might have not been through choice but Gwaine knew, whether they liked it or not, that something was going on between them. Something that nobody could control.

Silently, Gwaine slipped out of the slightly ajar door into the bustling village. He pondered around the side of house to find his stallion grazing on a patch of lush grass. The stallion raised its head as Gwaine approached and whinnied. It tried to pull away from the fence which it was tethered too but failed.

"Easy boy," Gwaine murmured letting the horse nuzzle him as he firmly patted its chestnut neck.

The knight knew that the stallion needed to be exercised as it had been tethered up since he and Arthur had arrived at Camelot. Whistling, Gwaine collected the horse's tack which had been carelessly hung over the side of the fence. The stallion impatiently pawed the ground and shook his wild mane. Hastily, in response, Gwaine flung the saddle onto the stallion and did up the girth. Gwaine was in such a hurry that he didn't bother to put on the martingale. Sliding his beige leather boot into one of the horse's stirrups, Gwaine pulled himself up onto the saddle.

Once he was mounted, Gwaine gathered up the reins and nudged his heels into the stallion's flanks. The stallion obediently trotted off and let Gwaine gently guide him into the forest. Gwaine could tell the stallion was raring to gallop and would have let him gallop. However the knight was worried that Merlin or Morgana would notice him and prevent him from riding away into the distance.

As soon as Gwaine had reached the cover of the trees, he loosened the reins and kicked the stallion into a gallop. Since Gwaine had no specific destination, he let the stallion decide where they went. They covered a great amount of distance before Gwaine felt the stallion tiring and reined him into a trot. Gwaine was about to turn the horse around when he realised that he was lost. When the knight was in Camelot, he could let the horse take control of direction and not be lost. Unfortunately, Gwaine had either forgotten that he was not in Camelot or had childishly thought that getting lost would turn out to be a perilous adventure. The latter of the two was increasingly probable.

Clicking his tongue, Gwaine pressed the stallion into a trot hoping that he might come across a dwelling or a means of navigating his way back to Ealdor. Within minutes Gwaine spotted a stone dwelling. He pulled his leg over the stallion's back and slid off the saddle. Gently guiding his steed to a tree, he looped the leather reins around the bough. The knight then turned around to take in the appearance of the dilapidated hovel.

Moss infested the ashen rocks which feebly held up the rotting timber roof. A damp and smoky aroma was given off by the rotting wood. Gwaine screwed up his nose in disgust at the unpleasant smell. Although Gwaine didn't think it was impossible to inhabit such a dilapidated and unstable house, Gwaine loudly rapped on the paint-peeling door. The force of Gwaine's knock was enough to send the door creaking open.

"Who is it?" a voice croaked from inside the house. "I am armed." Gwaine cautiously took a few steps back from the door just as it was thrust open.

A small man with fraying ashen hair appeared. He looked rather strange and raccoon like with his small goatee. His fingers were worn and tough from the many years of work they had endured. The woollen tunic and jumper he wore were covered with cloth patches as if they had been ripped and self-mended countless times.

"I am Gwaine," Gwaine explained. The knight usually missed out the 'Sir' when he introduced himself as he knew that a lot of people did not like knights or nobles.

"I am Rordan," the man greeted holding out his dirty hand which Gwaine enthusiastically shook. "How may I help you today? Do you want your problems solved?"

"Yes. Can you solve the problem lost?" Gwaine asked. "I can pay you."

The man thought for a moment and then appeared elated. He beckoned Gwaine into his house which was the opposite of what Gwaine expected. It was light airy and clean. Although all the furniture looked old and worn it was clean. There was a bookshelf crammed full with books and bending slightly due to the weight.

"I don't need you money son," the man sighed. "I will help you as long as you give a social problem to solve. You see I used to study human nature and emotions. Most people thought my work was nonsense so I retired early and have been living in this isolated location ever since."

Gwaine's face lit up at this as he had been needing someone like this to solve a major problem.

"Well my best friend and a friend who is an enemy but became my friend when we were trapped together- it's hard to explain," Gwaine said. Rordan ruffled his goatee in thought.

"You bonded through trauma an-"

"I wasn't traumatised when we were trapped," Gwaine interrupted. "But she was." Rordan drew up a rickety chair for Gwaine to sit in as he slouched back on his cushioned chair.

"You were sympathetic towards her. Being one of the only people going through the same thing as her at that precise moment, you let her bond with you. As I was saying the bond was created through her trauma. A bond created from trauma is not easily broken and is not really chosen to be made," Rordan explained.

"Are you saying that her and I will have a bond forever?" Gwaine gasped in wonder. Rordan set down two iron tankards on the willow table.

"It's quite likely." Rordan extracted a flagon of ale from his cupboard. "Do you want ale?" Gwaine nodded and let Rordan pour him a generous amount of ale.

As Rordan turned around, Gwaine silently swapped the tankards around as a necessary precaution.

"You see," Rordan pointed out collapsing upon his chair. "From my past experiance a bond created through trauma is generally made so that a person has a better chance of survival. For instance you and your once enemy probably bonded so you could join forces and fight together. An army of two has more chance than an army of one."

Gwaine was in deep shock at the truth Rordan had uncovered from a few words. The truth was it seemed to fit perfectly like the final part of a puzzle.

"Anyway," Gwaine carried on. "My two friends are worst enemies and used to try and kill each other the whole day long. They now have somehow bonded and are definitely in love although I do not think they realise it. You see they still claim they hate each other but the tension between them tells something extremely different."

Rordan frowned, letting creases appear all over his forehead. In all of his life he never had heard a problem like this. He hoped the man was not fabricating the problem.

"I have never quite heard of a problem like this but in my experience you should leave them to work it out for themselves. If they want to get together they will but if they want to go to war then, I'm afraid they will. I suppose you could subtly hint it but if you force it then it will not work out."

"Does chaining them up together count as 'subtly' hinting it or is that a bit far." Gwaine paused taking in the mortified expression on Rordan's face. "And I thought I was being a good friend..."

...

"Merlin don't stand on my toes you idiot."

"If you slap me again Morgana than I stand on your toes in self defence."

"I did not slap you Emrys! I tripped and fell into you."

"Liar!"

Morgana and Merlin had managed to constantly argue for three hours without stopping which was quite an infamous achievement to say the least. Despite there being an upturned chair and a couple of hits and kicks their argument had been completely verbal. Strangely, they had not run out of topics to argue over.

"I am going to kill Gwaine now," Morgana threatened. For once in the past three hours Merlin found himself agreeing with Morgana. Gwaine had taken this joke about him and Morgana being 'lovebirds' to an extreme level. As a joke at first perhaps it had been acceptable but now Gwaine would have to face the consequences.

"Merlin," Morgana murmured biting her lip. "I need to go." She tentatively flexed her fingers and adverted eyes to the ground. Her cheeks were even flushing scarlet In embarrassment.

Merlin couldn't even hope to comprehend why Morgana had, without warning, become flushed and embarrassed. He couldn't explain why she had suddenly decided that she need to go. It wasn't as if she could manage to go anywhere away from in the certain circumstances they were in. True, Merlin would have to go with her if she really needed to go somewhere else but Merlin didn't think that was what she meant. It was more probable that Morgana was meaning that she wanted to go away from Merlin.

As soon as Morgana had said 'I need to go', Merlin had felt his heart sink. It was as if he had forgotten who Morgana was. It was as if he had forgotten they 'enemies'. It was as if he had throught that they would remain in Ealdor forever. This was naïve thinking of course as Morgana was highly independent and would probably want to go back to her preposterous schemes on how to conquer Camelot and make her dear brother deceased.

"You realise it's kind of impossible to leave Ealdor unless I come with you," Merlin confusedly explained. Morgana awkwardly shook her head.

"No that's not what I mean. I need to go and..." Morgana started.

"What?" Merlin bemusedly said. "Oh I understand... You need to empty yourself." Merlin scratched his chin in thought, this wasn't good.

"Yes you ignorant stupid imbecile," Morgana snapped unable to keep her composure. She slapped his cheek.

"Oww... What was that for?" Merlin yelped massaging his cheek. "It's not my fault we are in this mess."

"You shouldn't have been born," Morgana softly concluded. "If weren't than I would be really happy and Queen of Camelot. Morgana smiled lost in the moment. However Morgana's words enraged Merlin and made her snap back at him.

"It's more like you should have been born, Morgana! You are not even a legitimate child and probably weren't even meant to exist," Merlin snarled barely thinking about what he was saying.

Merlin expected Morgana to try and physically and verbally annihilate him but she didn't. Instead she stumbled back as if she had been hit in the face. Merlin had just said the truth that nobody had been willing to say to her. Morgana knew that it was highly probable that what he said was the truth- she had never been wanted in this world.

"I'm sorry," Merlin apologised. "I didn't mean it like that." He paused struggling for anything to say

Merlin put his had over Morgana's stomach and shut his eyes. He whispered an incantation to make her stop needing to go. It was a very dangerous spell as he could accidently vanish one of her internal organs but Merlin had enough faith in his abilities for him to be able to do it.

"It's the truth though," Morgana sadly stated. "All I have been told in my life is lies. Everyone lies to me. It may be to the fact that I have never been liked. Even before I found out I had magic, people lied to me all the time."

Merlin wanted to find a way to reassure Morgana but he couldn't. He had lied to her more than anyone. He had lied about his magic to her for years on end and countless other times.

"I wish I had never lied to you," Merlin sinking down on the floor. Morgana followed his suit and collapsed upon the ground. "It would have all worked out better if I had just told you the truth from the beginning. Perhaps we would be roaming around Camelot."

"You realise that if nobody lied then society would not be able to cope," Morgana tiredly sighed. Her body slunk back from exhaustion. Merlin wanted to turn and look at Morgana, but their bodies were so close that he couldn't move his head without bashing her face. Her face which had the most impeccable features- emerald eyes and rosebud coloured lips that he was longing to kiss.

"I never realised you were so academically knowledgable," Merlin complimented. Smiling, Morgana leant her head against Merlin's shoulder.

"Perhaps you never bothered to look," Morgana yawned feeling incredibly drowsy although it was just early evening. She shut her eyes. Merlin rested his head upon her silky raven coloured locks. Planting a kiss on her head, Merlin wrapped his lanky arm that wasn't chained around her body. He wanted to be lost in this moment forever.

"I love you as a friend Morgana," Merlin quietly murmured squeezing her side. Morgana beamed but did not dare to open her eyes. She felt elated and it was completely wrong. The sorceress wanted to feel hateful towards Merlin for saying those three words but she couldn't. Those three words had made Morgana's month and, perhaps, would even make her year. Morgana couldn't ever recall anyone apart from Morgause, on the seldom occasion, saying that they loved her.

"I will care for you and protect you for as long as you want," Merlin promised. These words echoed around Morgana's head as she fell into a deep sleep.

Merlin felt elated as he saw Morgana's chest heaving up and down. At last he had managed to say 'I love you' without Morgana snapping back. Morgana not responding to 'I love you' was her way of saying I love back, or at least Merlin hoped this was true. During such a short period of time, their relationship had progressed dramatically. No longer did they bother to fight every time they saw each other (this was with the exception of the argument which lasted three hours when they were chained together). They were no longer enemies either. They were more opponents fighting for what they believed to be right. More justice in the world, was a common goal which they shared. One of them just happened to do it in the right way and the other do it in the not so good way.

As he watched Morgana sleeping soundly, Merlin found that he could not sleep. He felt extremely tranquil and relaxed but their was a strange fever which was awakening inside him. Merlin was sure that this was caused by Morgana accepting his love for her.

Suddenly, Gwaine came bounding through the door and skidded to a halt beside Merlin.

"I AM SO SORRY!" Gwaine loudly apologised. "I DIDN-"

"Shhh," Merlin hushed. "I have just managed to get Morgana to sleep." Unbeknownst of what was going on, Morgana deeply slept on. Her heavy breathing and rhythmic rising off her chest caused Gwaine to watch her happily for a moment. Gwaine couldn't remember ever seeing Morgana ever being this peaceful.

Raking in his pockets, Gwaine produced a key. He silently bent down beside Merlin and fumbled with the key. At last Merlin heard a familiar clinking of chains and the cuffs opened. Merlin easily slipped his hand out of the cuff and massaged his wrist. Gently, Gwaine slid Morgana's scarred wrist and hand out of the cuff. Next, Gwaine carefully lifted Morgana through to the bedroom and placed her in the bed. Drowsily, Merlin followed him and tucked the sorceress under a couple of thin linen blankets.

Although the prospect of spending a whole evening watching Morgana sounded like a good idea, Merlin knew that he could make better use of the time. He decided that visiting Gaius in Camelot was probably the best use of his time. Merlin told Gwaine of these plans to visit Gaius. Gwaine, knowing what was on Merlin's mind, promised to look after Morgana. Knowing that Morgana was in safe hands, Merlin teleported himself directly into Gaius's chambers. This took the physician, who was crushing leaves, by surprise.

"Merlin," Gaius remarked. "It is good to see you m'boy." Gaius broadly smiled as he embraced the closest person he had to a son. Merlin gladly accepted the embrace as he had been missing Gaius recently. The warlock had been so caught up with Morgana and saving the world, that he had been neglecting Gaius.

"I am extremely sorry that I haven't seen you much recently," Merlin apologised. "I need some advice Gaius."

The physician looked at Merlin with concern etched upon his face. If Merlin had come back to ask for advice, this generally meant that there was something wrong. Gaius frowned as he tried to figure out what could be wrong. Perhaps Morgana had been getting up to no good again or Mordred was planning something.

"It is Morgana," Merlin mumbled confirming Gaius's worst fear. Obviously something terrible had happened for Merlin to come back to Camelot. Gaius just hoped that Merlin had not been mentally hurt in the process.

"Has Morgana hurt someone?"

Merlin glared at Gaius who took a few steps backwards. It was not in Merlin's nature to be the slightest bit aggressive or angry so Gaius was shocked by Merlin's sudden temper. Perhaps Morgana had done something truly atrocious and made it out to be Merlin's fault.

"Why does everything always think the worst of Morgana?" Merlin viciously snapped. "She does what she thinks is right. Even if Morgana goes about it the wrong way, her killing people is for a good reason. I don't think it's right but the reason is good. Anyway why would she be hurting someone just now? We are at ceasefire until Morgana leaves Ealdor and she has not left Ealdor. Just because I need to say something about Morgana, it doesn't mean that it is a negative thing about her."

Gaius's jaw dropped open at this. He had not expected for Merlin to respond like this. It was as if Merlin was standing up for Morgana and was being highly over protective. Gaius was really surprised that Merlin was acting very protective to someone he had hated a year ago. True, a few months ago, Merlin had consulted Gaius about his feelings towards Morgana but Gaius had not expected it to turn into anything more.

"What do you think Morgana will be doing in two months," Merlin sharply asked. Gaius sighed. He felt exhausted and also did not know what to say in answer to Merlin's question. The physician could either say what he truly thought or say what he thought Merlin wanted to hear. Either way Gaius would not be comfortable saying his thoughts.

"I don't know," Gaius replied. "Morgana is a seer and I am not a seer so it may be more worthwhile trying to ask her."

Merlin knew why Gaius was trying to slyly put aside his actual thoughts. He was slightly grateful for Gaius doing this but was disappointed that he could detect that Gaius was lying. His faith in Morgana had been growing and now he felt like it had all been eradicated. All Merlin's hard work had been vanquished in seconds.

"What do you honestly think Morgana is going to be doing in two months?"

Merlin repeated his previous question to show Gaius that he did not believe him.

"I am sorry Merlin but I afriad that my thoughts are all to do with her trying to kill Arthur," Gaius truthfully said. Merlin took a step backwards as though he had been slapped in the face.

"Y-You," Merlin stammered. "I will prove you wrong!" With this Merlin abruptly murmured an incantation and disappeared.

...

Morgana was beginning to get bored of living in the house at Ealdor. All she seemed to have done since she was here was argue, get maimed, beat up Merlin, get tied up and get ordered around on a rotational loop. Since she was bored, Morgana had decided to sneak past a snoring Gwaine and out of the house into the wilderness. She took one of the woollen blankets and flung it round her head like a shawl. This would hopefully conceal her identity from anyone she came across.

Morgana pottered into the woods until she found a stream and collapsed by the banks of it. There she for several minutes planning what to do next.

Crack!

Morgana shot up at this noise and slunk back into the long grass at this noise. It sounded like someone clumsy had trodden on a stick. Two seconds later Merlin came bounding out the bushes panting heavily. He happily spotted Morgana and rushed over to her.

"Merlin you idiot!" Morgana exclaimed. "You gave me such a... such a..." Morgana couldn't bring herself to say the word fright.

"You gave me more a fright," Merlin laughed. "People don't usually vanish like that."

A raucous wail came from the tall untameable grass. Both Merlin and Morgana froze and stared at each other. Dropping into the lush grass, Merlin cautiously searched for the source of the wailing. He raked through the dense undergrowth until he found a baby wrapped in a ashen and ragged blanket. Carefully, Merlin bundled the baby up into his arms and cradled the baby to calm it

"What is that?" Morgana asked, bewildered. The wail had sounded like it had been projected by some malicious creature.

"A baby," Merlin smiled rocking the small bundle back and forth. Morgana glared at him in disgust.

"Why did you pick it up?" she snarled. "It's mother probably left it in the safety of the grass so she could go and do something."

"Firstly, it's a him Morgana and secondly he could get eaten or attacked," Merlin strictly explained wiggling his fingers around the baby's face. The baby ignored Merlin and continued to wail. "Don't worry we will look after you. Me and Morgana will pretend to be your parents for now."

Morgana looked as if she would rather kiss Merlin again than pretend to be this baby's parent.

"Why is it wailing?" Morgana inquired much to Merlin's amusement.

"Because it's a baby."

"It still must be crying for some reason," Morgana persisted. The baby's wailing was giving Morgana a headache and made her long to run far away.

"Why don't you hold him?" Merlin asked holding the baby out to Morgana. Morgana swiftly backed away from Merlin and the baby. "Come on you must have held a baby before- have you?"

"Since when have you heard of witches and babies getting on," Morgana laughed keeping a wary watch on the baby.

Merlin shrugged and began to rock the baby. He wiggled his fingers and made strange noises. Morgana couldn't even hope to comprehend what he was trying to achieve. She just hoped that she would not have to go anywhere near the wailing monster!

**Next time- Morgana will have trouble with the baby; Gwaine will try to feed the baby apples and Merlin will disguise Morgana so they can basically go on the equivalent of a date.**

**Okay I am trying to move Merlin and Morgana's relationship forwards. I will try and update soon but an am getting a puppy. Please leave your thoughts even if it if it's a small comment I'll still appreciate it the same.**


	8. The Baby Problem

**Darkangel665- I am sorry for the delay but I have been really busy. Since its the holidays I have more time to right so expect more updates**

**Renaissancebooklover108- Gwaine of course wouldn't want the baby to catch Applesia**

**Junior Woofles- I wouldn't say they were ready to have a date yet**

**Morgana may seem to be acting rather nasty in this chapter but there is an explanation so bear with **

As Merlin and Morgana began to make their way back to Ealdor, the baby began to wail pitifully. Merlin rocked the baby to try and get him to stop crying but the baby continued wailing like he would never stop.

"Morgana, you need to sing him a lullaby," Merlin laughed.

Morgana glared at Merlin. She had kept her distance from him since he had picked up the wailing monster. No way was she going to go near that monster to sing it a lullaby. She was a witch, not a baby tamer, a singer or mother. Morgana was a witch and was proud of it. Witches didn't go dilly dallying after babies. They were too focused on conquering the world and going on ambitious conquests. At least this was what Morgana pretended. There was a more valid reason as to why Morgana wouldn't approach the baby.

"You've made your point clear," Merlin chuckled. "Help me name him at least."

"How about monster?" Morgana suggested. "Or unlucky? Or wailer."

Morgana took a step closer to Merlin and looked into the baby's big azure eyes. For a moment the baby stopped crying and looked inquisitively at Morgana.

"You can't deceive me baby," Morgana spat. "I know that if you clever then you would have persuaded your mother not abandon you."

Now it was Merlin's turn to glare. Morgana was being purposely horrible towards the little baby who had no control over his life whatsoever.

"Why do you always say such nasty things?" Merlin asked. He paused. "You were this helpless when you were a baby. The same thing could have happened to but of course i-"

"Shut up!" Morgana said deeply agitated. Merlin had touched a nerve inside her. She had also been abandoned like this child. Luckily, Gorlois had been there for her.

"The baby's name is Lucas," Morgana announced.

Merlin couldn't figure how she possibly knew the baby's name.

"How do you know it's name? Do you speak baby language?" Merlin joked.

Morgana indignantly took a few steps away from Merlin and turned away. In Merlin's opinion, Morgana looked kind of dazed and vague as if she was somewhere else. Her movements were slow and clumsy.

"No," Morgana snapped. "I just decided it was his name."

Merlin knew there was no point arguing with Morgana. Like her father she wasn't likely to change her mind once it had decided something. However, Morgana seemed to be rather upset about something to do with the baby. Merlin couldn't quite comprehend what it was. He doubted that Morgana would hate the baby for no reason whatsoever. No one knew what went on in her twisted old brain.

At least Lucas wasn't a bad name for the baby to have. In fact the more Merlin thought about Lucas, the fonder he became of the name.

"Come on Lukie," Merlin whispered glancing at Morgana who had marched on ahead. "Don't worry about Morgana being horrible to you. She is like that to everyone but I hope you can help me change that."

Merlin and Morgana strolled through lush pastures for several minutes without stopping. Merlin stopped when he faced a slight problem. A problem which would only occur if carrying a baby.

"STOP!" Merlin shouted to Morgana.

Morgana darted over to see what the problem was and seemed genuinely concerned about Merlin's wellbeing.

"Can you hold Lucas?" Merlin asked.

Morgana didn't even need to say a word for Merlin to realise what she was going to say. The look on her face was enough.

"Please," Merlin begged. "It's just that he's peed on me."

"If I have to," Morgana snarled, snatching Lucas out of Merlin's arms.

Morgana forced herself to look away from the baby's face. Looking at Lucas's face stirred memories; horrible memories. Memories which were torturous to stir.

When Morgana had been looking away from Lucas's face, she had not been able to see the way he had calmed down and fallen into a deep sleep. She had also not seen the way he had smiled at her or the way that he waved her hand. If Morgana had seen it all. It all would have been too much for her to handle

"He likes you," Merlin smiled. The sorcerer carefully bundled the small baby back into the safety his arms before Morgana set off to Ealdor.

Morgana didn't react to what he had said. She either didn't hear Merlin or chose to ignore to what he had said. The witch was already on a pursuit as she seemed to be eager to get back to Camelot.

When they arrived back at Ealdor, Merlin and Morgana were confronted by a disgruntled Gwaine. Apparently Gwaine had spent hours looking for them whilst Hunith was out of her mind in worry. It took Gwaine almost five minutes to notice the baby bundled in Merlin's arms.

"Has Morgana had a baby?" Gwaine incredulously asked. Both Merlin and Morgana glared at him. "I take that as a no. I wondered if magical babies were born fast."

"He is cute," Hunith remarked walking over to them.

"I found him whilst we were out walking," explained Merlin, slyly leaving out Morgana's name. "He is called Lucas and is a noisy baby."

"Do you want to see Sir Gwaine the most handsome knight on the whole of this island?" Gwaine asked in a babyish voice. Merlin handed the baby over to Gwaine. "Do you like apple flavoured milk?" Lucas stuck out his tongue at Gwaine and pulled a face.

Merlin laughed but turned around to where Morgana was sitting in the corner of the room, facing the wall, alone. Hunith exchanged nervous glances with her son. Something was wrong with Morgana. It was almost as if she was scared of Lucas. Merlin lightly chuckled to himself. Morgana couldn't possibly be afraid of a baby which couldn't do anything to fend for himself, could she?

"Morgana," Merlin murmured. She didn't respond. "Morgana are you alright?"

"Leave me alone," Morgana hissed. Following this, Morgana abruptly stood up and strode into the room in which she had been sleeping in. The door banged shut behind her.

Merlin's eyes rested on the door. He felt that like he had managed to calm the raging storm inside Morgana just earlier this morning but now he felt like he was back to the start again- Morgana was angry at everyone.

The morning continued without much excitement. Gwaine made the breakfast and burnt it. Merlin still managed to gulp some of the burnt porridge down finding chunks of apple embedded in it. He made a mental note never to let Gwaine cook again. When Gwaine was cooking every meal contained apples and was burnt.

Later on in the morning, Lucas managed to pee on Gwaine. As the knight frantically went away to get changed, Lucas smiled to himself in Hunith's arms. The baby's cheeky grin was slightly reminiscent of Gwaine's grin which highly amused Merlin. Hoping Lucas would not be the spitting image of Gwaine when he was older, Merlin waggled his finger at the naughty baby.

Morgana hadn't emerged from the bedroom the whole morning and everyone (even Gwaine) had the sense to leave her alone. When lunchtime came and Merlin called on Morgana, she didn't reply or respond in any shape or manner. Merlin didn't want to confront Morgana again so his mother comforted him by keeping some lunch for Morgana.

The early afternoon was hardly more eventful than the morning. Gwaine decided that the apple stock was running low so had went on his horse in search of an orchard. This gave Hunith a chance to talk to her son in private and she grasped that chance when Merlin had just managed to rock Lucas to sleep on a log in front of the house.

"Your worried about Morgana, aren't you?" Hunith murmured, sitting next to her son.

Merlin shrugged. He had spent the whole day worrying about Morgana but he was sure that his mother couldn't reassure him.

"She's a difficult person with a unique mind," continued Hunith. "It is hard to know what is going on inside it. She might of just had a bad experience with a baby at some point. The baby could have cried all day and night. Or perhaps it just resurfaces times when she was extremely happy. These memories must hurt her. Alternatively, she could be jealous of the baby. You've had all your attention devoted to he and now this baby has came along and stole it."

"No," Merlin disagreed. "I don't think any of these explanations are possible. None of them fit in with how she's acting. She's never acted like this when I've talked about old times. If she was jealous of the baby, she would have gotten rid of it. Morgana wouldn't care this much about any irkful things that babies do."

"She is stubborn so you might want to wait until tomorrow to ask what is wrong with her," Hunith suggested.

Merlin doubted that he could wait a whole day to find out what was wrong with his friend but he did follow his mothers advice for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

When Merlin was talking to his mother, Gwaine had arrived back with a basket full of apples which he had traded for. He also arrived back with basket filled with raspberries and strawberries which he had picked from bushes. Merlin reckoned that this basket had also been full with apples but Gwaine had either eaten them or hidden them in his secret stash.

Shortly after this, Merlin, Gwaine and Hunith had supper. Morgana was called and still didn't emerge so Merlin wondered outside alone feeding Lucas fresh milk. The baby happily suckled on the milk but Merlin see that the baby could tell he was unhappy. Lucas really was a clever baby. Morgana was completely wrong about him being stupid. What annoyed Merlin most was how Morgana had a problem with the baby but yet had named him. Merlin couldn't figure out why Morgana would name the baby if she had a problem with him.

When Gwaine and Merlin had settled down to sleep, Merlin found that Morgana's behaviour was annoying him more than ever. As Gwaine's snores filled up the room, Merlin silently slide out of under the blankets and sneaked through to where Morgana was.

Morgana was lying on her bed gazing dejectedly at the ceiling. She didn't react to the door creaking open. The witch just continued to stare at the ceiling as if she was in a trance.

"Morgana," Merlin muttered. "Why do you hate Lucas so much do you need me to get rid of him?"

Morgana remained silent but her eyes locked with Merlin's. Her eyes were full of emotion but her face was as blank as a book with no words.

"I don't hate the baby," Morgana truthfully confessed. "I don't hate Lucas."

Confused, Merlin rubbed his chin. It didn't make sense. Why did Morgana act like she hated the baby when she didn't? It was mad. He doubted that it was because witches were meant to hate babies. Merlin knew that behind all of Morgana's frosty exterior, there was someone who cared. It was ignorance which caused her to be evil.

"You think I am some mindless person who hates everyone I meet," Morgana continued. "I am not who you think I am. I do not hate babies."

"I thought you..." Merlin started but he found himself not being able to continue. Did Morgana really believe that he thought of her in that way?

"Where is Lucas?" Morgana nervously inquired. "Is he alright? He's not been taken?"

This confused Merlin further. He couldn't quite understand why Morgana asked if Lucas had been taken. The answer to why Morgana had acted like she had hated Lucas lay right in front of him. However, Merlin failed to find the answer.

"No," Merlin eventually answered. "Why?"

Morgana narrowed her eyes and wondered if she could trust Merlin with her response. It was a sensitive topic and one which she had not talked to anybody about. Thinking about it, hurt Morgana enough that she couldn't even image talking about it. Not even to Aitjusa. Aithusa seemed to understand Morgana more than any human ever could and Morgana hadn't even spoke to her about it.

"You couldn't understand," Morgana slowly said. "You haven't sat there and watched the most horrible thing ever happening right in front of you. Not being able to prevent it, you have to watch it knowing it was your fault it happened."

Merlin frowned. Creases appeared in his forehead as he watched Morgana nervously. He didn't know what was going to happen next but he was not going to press Morgana for more information. The young warlock found Morgana's words somewhat enthralling and full of meaning. He couldn't link any of what Morgana was saying to himself which made her words even more enchanting. All Merlin wanted to do was understand if she began to explain herself then perhaps he would start to understand her.

After a couple of minutes pause, Morgana decided to carry on. "It happened to me." Morgana paused. Her throat had a lump in it. "I was in the Saxon dungeons. They threatened the life of a baby. They said they would kill it if I didn't tell them where Arthur was but I didn't know where he was and they warned me not to lie. I didn't know where he was and if I did the baby would still be alive. They killed it right in front of my eyes. I couldn't do anything. I tried to but I couldn't." Morgana hesitated but decided to continue. "I don't want Lucas to get hurt. I'm just scared that if something happens, Lucas could be hurt. He's innocent."

A spark ignited in Merlin's eyes. He thought that Morgana was being mean for no reason. Now he realised that she had been mean to try and get Merlin to get rid of the baby to a safer place. It all made sense.

"I am sorry," Merlin apologised. "I never realised."

Merlin felt guilty for assuming Morgana had been mean towards Lucas because of her past. Like everyone he found that he couldn't hope to understand her. Merlin had thought that he was beginning to understand her but now he knew better. Morgana was a extremely ambiguous person for a variety of different reasons.

"You shouldn't be worried about him though," Merlin continued. "Our power combined is unrivalled by anyone in the word. If you love Lucas enough when his life is endangered then you will be undefeated. Love can be a weakness, as you said, but it is the most powerful force in the word. If you believe in it then you can do anything."

Morgana looked a little unconvinced but Merlin's words had so much power in them that it awed her. It enhanced her not unlike the way she had enthralled Merlin with her own words.

Quietly, Merlin got up to his feet and crept back through to the room which he had been trying to get to sleep in. He bundled a yawning Lucas in his hands and carried him back through to Morgana.

"See Lucas is perfectly safe," Merlin reassured her. He gently placed the bundle on Morgana's lap making Lucas smile. "He likes you more than anybody else."

Gradually, Morgana's gaunt expression transformed into a small smile. She wiggled her finger at Lucas. Lucas responded by clasping his tiny hand around her finger. Merlin knelt beside them feeling elated.

"If he really knew me he wouldn't like me, Merlin."

"That isn't true," Merlin contradicted. "Lucas could watch all that you have done and still like you. He is so innocent and trusting. I think you remind him of his mother."

Morgana softly placed her hand behind the back of his neck and said, "He's cold." Merlin silently passed her another blanket which Morgana lovingly wrapped Lucas in.

Seconds passed. Perhaps it was minutes that passed. Merlin couldn't tell. He was completely lost in the moment. One little baby seemed to do better at bringing out Morgana's good side than he was able to do.

"I should take him through," Merlin said. "You need to eat something and then sleep." However Morgana was extremely reluctant to pass Lucas over to him. She perhaps thought that something would happen to Lucas if he was out of her sight for a minute.

Finally, Merlin decided to leave Lucas with Morgana and get her something to eat. He went back through the room found the apples, raspberries and strawberries that Gwaine had got that afternoon. Grabbing, Lucas's milk for when he woke up Merlin rushed back through to Morgana.

"Here," Merlin said, handing Morgana an apple. "You can't hope to do anything to help Lucas if you don't eat. I may never be a great physician like Gaius but I know enough to say that food affects how you act."

Morgana laughed. "You're funny Merlin."

Although Merlin had told Morgana to get some sleep, when dawn commenced neither of them had slept. Neither of them had been able to sleep although Lucas had only awoken once during the night. The two of them had spent the whole night watching Lucas. A few times they had exchanged words but most of the Merlin and Morgana had been absorbed in their own thoughts.

By morning they were both feeling exhausted but were still pleasantly happy.

"We should take Lucas back to the place where we found him just incase his mother is looking for him," Morgana decisively said. Merlin nodded. There was no point disagreeing with her when she was like this.

It only took Merlin and Morgana fifteen minutes to reach the place in which they had discovered Lucas. The place hadn't been disturbed at all. It looked as if it had been untouched by anything since they had discovered the baby here yesterday.

"I'm just concerned that Lucas's mother is out there desperately searching for her son," Morgana announced. She hugged Lucas in closer to herself.

"I know," Merlin agreed. "But we can't just start asking people if they have lost a baby. Anyone could say that Lucas is their child to take him away and do something awful to him."

Morgana grimaced. She couldn't understand how people could be like that. The witch placed her hand protectively over Lucas's chest. She was not going to let anyone ever hurt Lucas.

Merlin and Morgana sat down in the lush grass patiently waiting. When Lucas woke up, wailing, Merlin fed him some milk. After that he lay in Morgana's arms quite content and quickly fell asleep.

Not long after this, a man on a horse appeared. Morgana momentarily panicked. She hadn't thought about what would happen if she encountered a person.

"Merlin," Morgana whispered. She leaned closer to him. "He will notice us and recognise me."

"Keep your head bowed to the ground and do not look up," Merlin warned.

As the man rapidly approached them, Merlin noticed that he appeared to be staring at Lucas and Morgana. By his clothing, Merlin could tell he was a nobleman. When the man had arrived next to Merlin and Morgana, he drew his horse to a halt and gracefully dismounted.

"Greetings my good sir, lady and child," the nobleman pompously said. "I do hope you are in good health this very sunny day?"

"We are thank you," Merlin coldly replied. "Can I help you?"

The man looked taken aback by the frostiness in Merlin's voice but continued speaking, "Yes. I am on an important mission and require the direction to a so called place named Camelot."

The nobleman came forward to tickle Lucas under the chin. Morgana, being paranoid, thought he was about to hurt Lucas so she slapped his hand and looked up by him. The nobleman stared back at her shocked.

"You," he stuttered. "I know you." He then ran backwards and stumbled into his horse. Trembling, the nobleman managed to mount his horse and ride away.

"Morgana, we need to leave. The bounty hunters will be after you!"


End file.
